He Who Dares: Book One (The Gray Chronicals 1)

by Rob Buckman

  “God in heaven, lecture you! Christ woman, I should shoot you.”

  “You can’t do that!”

  “Yes, I can, Captains have done in before.” He snapped back, but his tone was softer. “And got away with it!”

  “If you think I’m going to stand for you treated me like some errant child you are mistaken. I’m not just some girl from a port side bar!” Her caution vanished. “If you were a more competent officer instead of a wet behind the ears, snotty nosed Ensign, you would have us out of here by now!”

  “I don’t give a damn if you’re the Princess Royal herself. From now on, you will do as I say, or else!” Her face took on a stunned expression for a moment.

  “Say who?” She demanded, stepping towards him. “An Ensign in the Royal Navy who can’t find his own ship!”

  She stood there looking defiant, as if daring him to do something about it. That was the last straw, and his resolve not to lose his temper vanished. He simply grabbed her, intended to just put her across his knee and swat her butt a few times. He grabbed the jump suit, pulling out of her hands.

  “OHMYGOD!” She yelled, trying to grab it.

  Stepping backwards, he threw it down the tunnel and reached for her. She swung a haymaker at his chin, barely missing as he moved aside, then caught him on the shoulder with one punch, and another in the ribs. She stepped back, ready to attack again. Reaching into his pocket, Mike pulled out a length of cord and went after her, ignoring the barrage of punches and kicks. The girl stood there in a half crouch, looking at him, then her clothes, wondering what he was going to do, eyeing the cord in his hand. She must have had some idea of what he was going to do, as she suddenly dropped into a spinning back kick, catching him in the side. Mike winced and stumbled back, feeling as if she’d cracked a rib. The moment he did, the Lady Ann turned, run down the tunnel towards the waterfall instead of following up her attack. Where she thought she was going he didn’t know, and he caught up with her just before she was about to jump in.

  “That would be a stupid! You’d be killed if you jumped into there.” He growled, stopping a few feet from her, just in case they both went in.

  Instead, she whirled round and charged him, hoping to knock him off balance and get passed him. It didn’t work. Too many hours of combat training took over. A body check, and a quick flip, and she was face down on the sandy floor, stunned, the wind knocked out of her. Mike quickly grabbed her wrists, and using the cord secured them behind her back. She kicked and screamed at him, swearing, and spitting with rage.

  “How dare you treat me like this,” she snarled. “I’m not some cheap whore you picked up in a port side bar!”

  “No you’re not, you’re a willful, undisciplined, spiteful brat, and someone should have done this a long time ago.”

  Mike walked over to the edge of the fall, panting, holding his sore ribs and wet his face, holding onto the roots of some vegetation as a precaution. He looked at them a moment, then nodded, and picking a long, supple root he pulled it down. Using his knife, he cut a three-foot length, swishing it through the air to test its strength. It was perfect.

  “What… what are you going to do with that?” She asked, looking round at him. Her eye got round as she saw what he had in his hand, comprehending what he had in mind. “Oh God, no, please… you wouldn’t dare?”

  “Oh yes I would.” Grabbing her by the bound wrist, he lifted her and dragged her back down the tunnel to the fire where there was more light. “I’m going to do what someone should have done a long time ago.” Dragging her over to the rocky outcrop, he laid her over it. By now, she knew he was serious, and she started begging and pleading with him.

  “Please, I’ll do whatever you say, honestly!”

  “Too late, you should have thought about that before.” Mike snapped and pulled her panties down over her hips. She began kicking and screaming, but she couldn’t stop him from pulling them down.

  “Now you are going to get the spanking your parents should have given you years ago.” The flexible root made a swishing sound as it descended through the air, landing across both her cheeks with a loud SMACK!

  Then she began screaming in earnest as Mike landed a flurry of stokes across her bare bottom and upper thighs. It didn’t matter what she said or promised, as he kept it up for a full minute, while she kicked and screamed. He stopped at last then her whole bottom and upper thigh were covered in red welts. By that time, she was reduced to a limp, sobbing mess, tears wetting the dry rock under her head. At last, he finished and stood her up, and for a moment, he thought she’d fall. Her legs and thigh shook, but he felt only a little sympathy. She brought it on herself.

  “Go stand with your nose against that wall, and don’t move until I tell you.”

  Slowly she stood up, and stumbled across the tunnel to stand with her nose pressed again the wall, sobbing quietly to herself. She’d never felt so miserable in her life, never imagined someone could do this to her. Fresh tears ran down her face. She felt totally humiliated now, stripped naked and punished like some stupid kid and made to stand in the corner. She read about things like this happening in the past, now she knew how it felt like. How could he treat her like this, she hadn’t done anything really bad, just lay out on the rock and sunbathed for a while, that’s all. It only occurred to her after the pain subsided that he might be right. It was a stupid this to do. Any ship or wandering search party might have seen her and she completely forgotten about low orbit ships doing an infrared scan. Later, she admitted to herself, that he did have the right, as Captain, to punish her any way he saw fit. Tilting her head, she rested her forehead against the cool rock, feeling sorry for herself.

  Her bottom and thigh felt as if they were on fire, yet it was almost nothing compared to the hot feeling in her face. She knew that he was sitting across from her looking at her red bottom. She instinctively pressed her thighs together, blushing even harder at the thought of what he must have seen while she was kicking and struggling. Mike sat by the fire, occasionally looking at her. This time, instead of feeling embarrassed, he felt satisfied. He doubted he’d have any more trouble for her now, but he wouldn’t bet on it. She was definitely a handful, as attested by the collection of lumps he’d collected during their struggle. He gingerly felt his left side, wincing softly as his finger probed a sore spot along his ribs. She managed to get a few good kicks in here and there. He thanks his lucky stars that she wasn’t any better, as with a little addition training, she’d be positively lethal. He left her standing there feeling sorry for herself for half an hour, then went over and stood behind her.

  “Are you going to give me any more trouble?”

  “No, Sir.” She answered softly.

  “Good, here, put these on.”

  He undid the cord holding her wrist, and held out her panties. She shot him a grateful look, took them, turning away from him to put them on. He saw her wince as she pulled them up over her bottom, and bite her lower lips, she gave him her most sorrowful look. Mike blushed, thinking that he might have been a little hard on her. He almost said sorry, but changed his mind. That would only detract from the punishment. At that moment, he wanted to put his arms around her and kiss her and he started to lift his hands.

  “Can I have my jumpsuit, please?” Covering her breast as she said it.

  “Oh… yes, of course.” Her words broke the moment, and he turned and walked up the tunnel to retrieve it. After she’d dress they sat by the fire, thinking their own thought. He did hand her half a ration bar and they munched in silence.

  “Stay here, I have to go and send a message to my ship.”

  At the tunnel entrance, he stopped, checking the surrounding countryside for movement before moving out into the open. First, he sent out two sets of clicks, and waited for a response. Someone was obviously monitoring the comm frequency, as he received an immediate response. Next, he set it to burst transmission and pressed the alert button. This would tell the radio operator to record the incoming mes
sage. He waited a moment for them to set it up before pressing the send key. In a microsecond his message flashed across the ether, and he sat down just inside to wait for a reply. It would take the computer time to de-scramble and slow the message down where it could be understood, then for Conner to decide what to do. He wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get an immediate response, and twenty minutes went by before his comm unit gave a soft beep and he switched it to record. Then the green LED flashed and he knew he had it. The message was short, so it only took a few seconds for his unit to get it ready for playback.

  ‘Message receive and understood... will meet you at the LZ in two days... end message.’ Conner Blake wasn’t giving him an argument, or suggesting that he come and pick him up, for which he was grateful. Mike went through the same procedure again, and sent his acknowledgement message and sent two clicks to sign off. That done, he did take the precaution to check for footprints or evidence they were here, and after one last survey of the narrow gorge, ducked back into the tunnel. Now he could relax a little, and pulling his boots off he lay down, sighing softly to himself. They both needed to get as much rest as possible. Tomorrow would be a long trek, and rough on both of them, as he only had two days to get to the LZ. There was no way he could expect them to stay after that. It was too dangerous. The longer they stayed here, the more chances there were for them to be spotted. How they would get out of the system, he had no idea, but even if he did manage to get to the ship, he still had that problem to face.

  He fell asleep thinking about it, formulating, and discarding one plan after the other. The girl sat there, shifting occasional to try and find a better spot for her sore bottom, but there wasn’t one. No matter where she moved, it hurt. In the end, she lay down on her tummy, at least that way it only throbbed. She watched him as he drifted off to sleep. First thinking of ways to get her revenge, then wondering what it would be like to make love to him. She tried chasing that thought away, and went back to planning her revenge. For a while, that felt much better than thinking about making love to him. She’d extract every bit of pleasure she could, seeing him humiliated in public, then sent him off to the worse posting imaginable. Like sanitation officer for the mining colony on the ice world of Helsinki. Then again, if she did that, she wouldn’t be able to see him again. Resting her chin on her hands, she looked at his face. He was handsome in a rough colonial sort of way, all muscles and sunburned skin. As his face relaxed in sleep, she could see the young man slowly emerging from under the layer of worry and responsibility this rescue operation put on him. It was sad in a way. He’d been thrust into the position of command, ready or not, and that didn’t happen to a lowly Ensign very often. She wanted to see that young man, happy, full of fun, chasing her in the sunlight. Normally Ensigns had the chance to grow into command positions, stepping up the ladder of responsibility a rung at the time. Folding her arms, she laid her head on them, still looking at him, shifted slightly to try and find a more comfortable position, then winced as pain shot through her bottom. She blushed slightly, remembering the names she called him. It was no wonder he spanked her that hard, she must have sounded like some backwater fishwife. Not something, you would expect to hear from a lady.

  She still felt angry with him for doing it, and something else she hadn’t expected. None of the people she associated with would think of doing something like that, but then again, what did they do? Send the errant child off to the therapist for counseling? She imagined so. Her eye slid down his body, weighing him against other young men she knew. He was too big and bony, totally unlike the delicate, refined young men she was accustomed to. She mentally made a list of all his faults, cataloguing them in her mind. His skin, dark from spending too long hours outdoors, hands, large and rough from hard work, instead of soft and supple. The stray thought of what it would be like to feel those hands running over her body in a caress wander through her mind. She immediately tried to brush it away. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t go away, and without even realizing it, she fell asleep. The echo of distant thunder woke her, and for a moment, she looked around wildly, forgetting where she was. The thunder echoed down the tunnel again, faint, distant. Ann looked up the tunnel, just in time to see the flash of lighting illuminate the upper chamber. Reaching over she shook Mike awake. Long explanation weren’t necessary, as the metallic sound of thunder bounced from wall to wall. Mike cursed his ability to sleep through anything and scrambled to his feet. He had no idea how long it had rained, but by the sound of it, this was no light shower.

  “Grab your things Milady. We have to get out of here, NOW!”

  Even as he spoke, he saw the first trickle of water begin worming its way down the floor of the tunnel. That sent a shiver of fear up his spine. For once, the Lady Ann didn’t argue, a panicky look on her face. It only took a few moments to gather their things and get dressed, but it was far too long, as the trickle became a stream. Mike slipped his hand through the safety strap on his light, and grabbing her by the hand, splashed and slipped up the tunnel, heading for the entrance.

  “Oh God! We’re not going to make it!” She sobbed her voice full of panic at the thought of drowning.

  “Yes, we are, just keep going, no matter what.”

  “Mike! Please tell me we’ll be all right!” She pleaded.

  “We will Milady, trust me.” Mike wasn’t as sure as he sounded, as the rushing water reached his knees.

  Grabbing anything he could to hold onto, he hauled the Lady Ann up behind him, trying to keep her out of the full force against the wall. Rounding a bend, he saw the opening in a flash of lightening, no more than a hundred feet away, but even as he looked, he also saw the torrent of water heading their way. In desperation, he swung the lantern around, looking for a place out of the main flow, knowing they’d be swept away when it hit. A split, or gap in the rock ceiling was the only possible refuge, and he jumped for it, pulling Ann with him. They made it just before the torrent passed the spot where they’d stood, but he knew their respite wouldn’t last long. If the river rising at its present rate, this whole tunnel would be under water in a few moments. Panting with fear, he looked around, seeing and opening above their heads. It wasn’t much, but it might provide enough room and height to survive. Letting go of her hand, Mike climbed and tried to wiggle through the narrow opening, but it was too small. With a snarl of pure anger, the heel of his hand smashed into the rock outcrop, once twice, three times. It snapped off with a loud crack and dropped into the dark swirling water. Ann looked at the massive chuck of rock as it went past, awed. Mike quickly wiggles through the opening and reached down for her hand, but she couldn’t see it in the darkness. He heard her scream as the water began pulling at her legs, and switching hands, he lowered the one with the lantern around his wrist. She immediately grabbed his hand and hung on like grim death as he lifted her. It was a bad position for lifting, but he didn’t have a choice, and with a soft groan, hauled her up. Her grip on his hand began to slip as he pulled her head and shoulders through the opening.

  “Grab something!” He yelled above the roar of the water. Ann scrambled around with her feet, trying to catch a ledge of the outcropping, at last finding a tiny foothold on a ledge.

  Even so, the water was still rising, and she felt it tugging at her feet. Mike switched hands again, holding her wrist this time for a better grip. Instinctively she grabbed his at the same time and he was able to haul her up out of harm’s way. Their respite was short lived as the water continued filling the cave, and looking up, Mike looked for a place to climb higher. To his surprise, the shaft continued up, the top vanishing in darkness, but water began trickling down the walls. At least they should be able to climb out of the reach of the rising water, and he motioned up. Ann nodded and followed him as he climbed higher. In all, they climbed up the wet rocks for twenty minutes, but the flow didn’t increase. Rainwater splashing on his face told him that they were near the entrance, and explained the water running down the shaft. Even as they clim
bed out, the rain stopped, and the clouds began to clear, racing away towards the Eastern horizon. Soon, the pearly light from the gas giant gave them sufficient light to see but it wasn’t reassuring. The edge of the gorge was only a few feet away, and taking a careful look over, Mike shivered. The river filled the gorge to within ten feet of the top, putting the entrance to the cave thirty feet under water. If Ann hadn’t woken him when she did, he doubted they would have made it out alive. They would have been swept down the tunnel and dumped into the falls, drowned or smashed onto the rocks below.

  Taking his time, Mike careful lead Ann away from the gorge, heading back into the jungle, and high ground where he found a rock outcropping with an overhanging ledge. The ground and debris underneath were dry, and it didn’t take him long we get a fire started in the back corner. They needed the heat, no matter what the risk, as both of them were freezing, teeth chattering, bodied shaking from exhaustion and fear. Ann’s face looked gray, and Mike knew that shock was setting it. They didn’t undress this time, and he just held her in his arms beside the fire, rocking her slowly back and forth, combining their body heat with that of the fire. She shivered each time she thought of the cave, but even as she did, Mike made a soothing sound, saying she was safe now. She hugged his arms, smiling weakly in acknowledgement. In the end, they both drifted off to sleep, warm, safe and comfortable in each other arms. The sound of voices woke her up some time later, and she sat up with a start and looked around in the darkness.