do?”
Crystal stood up and strapped herself in as she looked at the HDC. “Power up.” The Mech turned on. She switched the parrot mode on line and glanced at Daf. “Hold on to something. We're heading west. It’s time to get some food and water.”
∞
A rap on Admiral Byrd's door woke him. He looked around. He was on his couch. He checked the time on the wall and it was 10:09 pm and he must have fallen asleep. He pulled both hands through his hair, ruffling it up a bit as he leaned on an elbow. Then he remembered the holovid—the orbs and the Thunderbird that had been erased. The vid had been tampered with, but by who, and why?
Another rap on the door and he sat up straight. “Who is it?” When no one answered, he took a deep breath and pushed himself up and stood. Then, as he wearily walked to the door, he rubbed his eyes, getting the blur out of them.
Another knock.
“Yes! I'm coming!” He rubbed a dab of slobber off the side of his mouth with his sleeve and spoke to the voice command in his door. “Unlock and open.”
The door slid open and Admiral Byrd crossed a forearm in front of his eyes as a bright light beamed through the doorway. Noisy commotion sprang through, battering him with questions, statements, accusations, and what seemed to be chaos accompanied by shadows of people on the other side of the doorway, all mixed together.
Shit! Reporters! “What's the meaning of this?! Turn off those damnable lights!” He swung his arms in front of him, as if swiping away mosquitoes. “Get back!”
A woman strode through the doorway, temporarily blocking the light and giving the admiral a second to see what was transpiring.
Yes, they were all reporters, and more than a handful. The men wore suits with ties and the women wore dresses, sparkling necklaces, and pretty smiles. Small robotic hover-vid cameras were behind them with their lights blaring.
The woman who walked into his room shoved an audio device in front of his face. “Do you know why you’re implicated in the coup? What do you have to say about the charges brought against you?”
Admiral Byrd wanted to shove her out of his room, not only because of the intrusion, but because of the question…a coup? The next stage of Zim's plan had been waged, and much sooner than the admiral had expected. He thought it was going to be a long, drawn out affair. Instead, he was being bull rushed less than seven hours after being accused of such a heinous act.
“I did no such thing…get out of here!” He placed his hands on the woman, easing her out of his room as a man slid by her, shoving another audio device into the admiral's face. “The Prime Director says he has proof you were the master-mind in the attack! Do you have a reply to that, Admiral?”
The admiral squinted, less because of the light than because of the stupid question and the illogical situation at hand. He shook his head. “Let me sleep!” He leaned against the man, pushing him against the wall of reporters, shoving them out the door completely. He glanced up to see a shocked Captain Stripe standing behind the crowd of reporters.
Captain Stripe directed her attention down the hall, waving her arm in the direction of the reporters. “Get them out of here!” Several of the Brigantia Guard came around the corner, rounding up the reporters and herding them away from the admiral.
Admiral Byrd, not wanting to discuss any more of this with anyone, stepped back into his office. “Close!”
The door to his room shut and it made a perfect barrier, muffling the harshness he had just experienced. No more leading questions, no more assertions. Nothing. He just wanted sleep; although he knew he wouldn't be able to because he was wide awake now and he needed a plan. It was him against the governance, and no telling what they would pull. He didn't expect such ruthlessness from what was once a peaceful administration. Who could he call? How could he get out of this? His starship was docked inside Starbase Matrona, which gave him easy access to all spheres within the starbase, but now it was more difficult for him to fly his starship out of here.
A thud on the door broke his concentration. But, before he could ask and assuming it was the reporters again, he heard a thick, low voice clearly calling through the door's voice command. “This is the Matrona Guard. You are under arrest. Surrender any weapons you may have and step out peacefully.”
Admiral Byrd's heart skipped a beat. The authorities were here to take him away. Just like the attack, this was happening too fast, too suddenly.
He went over to his desk and clicked a button. A wooden panel opened, sliding out a large, three muzzle phaser. He picked it up and switched the function from stun to kill.
Thud! His eyes moved from the phaser to the door. “This is your last warning. We will blast this door open if you do not come out immediately!”
He gave a heavy sigh and his eyes moved back to his phaser. Dumb idea, James. He placed the gun back into the panel and closed it. He went over to the door and stood erect. He needed to look respectable in front of the cameras and demonstrate strength. He needed the people to see his face, to see the truth in his eyes, and to see through the lie that Prime Director Zim was perpetrating right in front of them all.
His stomach lurched. Chase!
He needed to get word to his nephew. Dashing back to his desk, he clicked the auto-write function on the desk's HDC and spoke into it. “Chase. This is of the utmost importance–it’s for the safety of Star Guild, the governance, and the people. Zim has taken over the governance. I need eyes on the inside. Please be them for me. We need all the help we can get. Find out what you can and report it to Captain Stripe. I'll be in lock up. Uncle James.” He pressed a button on the HDC and a silver sheet with the admiral's seal embossed on it materialized on his desk. His words were printed in black. He folded the note a number of times and curled his fingers around it, making a fist to hide it from view.
“Open!” he yelled at the door. It opened to a dozen Matrona Guard's pointing phasers at him. The man in the front nodded to him, lowering his eyes for a moment. He wore the sergeant badge. Immediately, the Admiral knew this man didn't like what he was doing. To Admiral Byrd, this man's emotions were good. This would allow him a little leeway on his way to lockup.
“I'm sorry, Admiral. I must follow orders.”
A hover-vid camera flew inside of the doorway, hovering near the top of the door frame. It made a swooshing sound. The sergeant turned and aimed his phaser. “Get that hover-vid out of here before I blow it to hell!”
The hover-vid dipped and sped out the door.
“Thank you, sergeant,” said Admiral Byrd.
“Admiral, please come with me.” The sergeant turned and reached for the admiral's arms, readying the hand cuffs.
“Please allow me a little dignity as I leave my quarters and my ship. Don't embarrass me anymore than I already am.” Admiral Byrd's eyes were soft. “If I run, you have permission to shoot me.” The sergeant considered for a moment and gave a nod of his head.
Fleet Admiral James Byrd walked out of his office, following the eleven member Matrona Guard down the hall. The twelfth Guard, the sergeant, held his phaser near the admiral's back, moving the admiral along at a slow pace.
The admiral looked over his shoulder. “I ask one more favor, Sergeant. I need to give instructions to my leading officer, Captain Stripe. She'll be around the corner. It won't be long.”
The sergeant paused, thinking. He tilted his head, about to shake it no, but then changed his mind. The admiral had been very important to Star Guild, and had been an icon for humanity for many years. “I can do that, sir.”
As they rounded the corner, the captain was standing no more than ten feet away, arms folded across her chest, eyes burning holes into each Guard who passed her by. Then, standing to attention, she saluted the admiral, her jaw clenched and looking as if she wanted to break some heads.
Admiral Byrd walked over to her, bringing his hands up to meet hers, skillfully transferring the folded note into her palm. She folded her fingers around it, concealing its content from view
. “Bring Brigger to the helm. It's about time he learned how to fly. And bring Charlie to Com Desk. You take over the command chair, Captain. She's your bird now.”
Louise looked past the admiral, glaring into the sergeant's eyes. “Yes, Admiral, but it won't be long before I see you back on the ship.”
“Aye, Captain, in times like these, the truth is all we have. Let's prove my innocence.”
Admiral Byrd turned on his heel and continued with the Matrona Guard, leaving Brigantia, and hoping this wasn't the last time he'd ever see his ship and crew again.
∞
The shadows of dusk were looming larger and longer during the hour Crystal and Daf had been walking their Mech westward, toward Warehouse 12. Talking had been minimal. Crystal imagined that if she could walk on this windless planet without a Mech, she'd hear silence and feel the stillness of this world. There weren't any animals here, unlike the biosphere on Matrona. Bugs did not populate here, nor even water for fish to swim and spawn. The surface was devoid of anything but rock and dust, with only occasional rain that fell, and that was collected in large, one ton barrels. Humans were the only life forms on Lumus.
The Mech's HDC displayed 10:28 pm, way past Crystal's bed time. No wonder her vision was starting to blur.
“Are we almost there yet?” Daf yawned, rubbing her eyes like a child.
Crystal
Star Guild: Episodes 1 - 3 (Star Guild Saga) Page 17