“What Mr. Collins really wants to know is where Dr. Duarte is?” Edie commented glancing towards him with a mischievous grin.
“Well, now that you mention it where is she?” Mike inquired trying to sound innocent.
“She is treating the admiral back in Ward Two,” Dr. Beilor said still smiling.
With a quick “thanks” Mike turned away and headed to the rear most ward where the critically wounded were housed. Entering the ward, her saw that Dr. Duarte was at the far side of the ward standing by an automated hospital bed. The bed’s occupant was Rear Admiral Sir Egbert Underhill-Norton.
Crossing the room, he nearly ran into a nurse attendant carrying a pile of folded sheets.
“Lt. Collins, are you here to help fold sheets?” Lady Seil-Ca said her white seemingly irisless eyes looking at him from over the top of a pile of linen.
“No, I’m here to visit the admiral,” he said withholding his true intent. She was the enemy and was the first Karduan he had ever captured way back when they stole the Star Wolf. She was also a telepath and an envoy for the Karduan High Council.
“Pity, we could use the help in the laundry,” she said squeezing by him.
She brushed against his arm as she passed and he turned to watch her as she moved a few steps away.
“Tell me are you still a telepath?” he asked.
She stopped and looked back at him.
“If you’re asking if I can read your mind the answer is still no. You are Psi Void and I could never read you even with a deep probe,” she answered.
“That’s not what I mean,” Mike said and continued, “Are you currently able to perform telepathy and read minds?”
“No, the neural inhibitor that is mixed with the pheromones I need to survive has completely taken my ability to seize the thoughts of others from me,” Seil-Ca admitted sounding unmoved over her loss.
“You don’t sound too upset with it?” he probed seeking more insight to the Blue noblewoman’s state of mind and condition.
“It is as you humans say a mixed blessing. I’m no longer a Prendere but for the first time since I was a little girl I have no one else’s thoughts bothering me. It has actually been peacefully quiet inside my mind,” the Blue revealed and then smiled. “I guess I have you to thank for that,” she added and then walked away to carry out her duties.
Looking around the room he spotted one of the ship’s Werewolf commandos and went over to talk with him. He wanted to know if he or any of the other Werewolves had felt any deception on the Karduan telepath’s part. He knew that a normal person with training to block telepathy could sometimes feel when they would try to look into your mind.
After a few minutes of conversation Mike found out that this was a topic discussed everyday. It seemed that after a duty shift guarding the Blue those on duty would have debrief and would then review the security logs to look for any discrepancies or gaps in their memories. To his surprise no occurrences of Seil-Ca using or being suspected of using telepathy had been reported. Still, he didn’t trust her, after all she had once tried to kill the woman he loved.
Thanking the guard, he continued on his original mission to find his lady love while he still had time to do something about it. Heading for the admiral’s automated bed he saw Angelique leave the old officer’s side and walk towards him.
“You are late,” she said her brown eyes smiling as she made a playful frown.
“I bumped into Doc Edie and Commander Hutton, as well as your Blue nurse,” he reported.
The pretty French doctor made a face at him.
“She is doing an excellent job,” she defended.
“I don’t trust her, I think she is playing a game,” he commented looking away.
“You are paranoid,” Angelique said with a huff.
Mike looked back at her with a shrug and a smile.
“A little paranoia is a good thing, plus I might add she did stab you,” he said touching the spot on her shoulder were the Karduan Lady had assaulted her.
She grabbed his finger and guided it down to her side and held his hand.
“I haven’t forgotten,” she said her eyes narrowing at him quietly reminding him that it was all his fault as the Blue had fallen in love with him or at the very least in lust with his scent.
It was Mike’s turn to make a face as he looked away.
“How’s the admiral?” he asked changing the subject.
She looked back to the suite where the senior officer was recuperating.
“He is doing much better. The drugs we are using have reduced the amount of seizures. We have mapped his brain and are considering doing surgery when he is a little stronger,” Angelique said and looked back at him and smiled.
“What?” he asked seeing the twinkle in her eyes.
“How long do you have?” she whispered.
Mike looked at her making a questioning expression.
“I’m to meet with Commander Bannon and his staff in six and half hours,” he answered.
The French doctor smiled back at him, “That is enough time, perhaps,” she said and pulled him by the arm towards the main doors.
Mike didn’t need to be pulled and walked briskly beside her as they rushed to leave the infirmary. As the young couple passed by several orderlies, guards and patients they saw them either smile or shake their heads.
Reaching the door, Dr. Duarte called to the head nurse, “Je me casse,” she said with a wave of her free hand as they left.
Collins looked back and saw that Seil-Ca was also staring at them as they left neither smiling nor shaking her head in amusement.
Her permanent quarters were just down the corridor from the sickbay and the couple quickly hurried inside. Unlike the bedroom in the back of the sickbay that was used by any doctor on the graveyard shift this was her assigned quarters.
Once safely inside she spun around and started pulling at his clothes trying to get his uniform off.
“Computer - lock the door,” Mike said a second later the computer responded and announced that the entrance door was secured.
She didn’t look up at him over this and continued to unfasten his pistol belt letting it drop to the floor. Pausing she kissed him and found his mind was somewhere else.
“Mon Dieu! What is wrong?” She demanded staring into his blue eyes.
“It is that Blue, she was giving us a weird look when we left,” he stated.
“What kind of look?”
“A blank look,” he replied realizing how lame it sounded once he said it out loud.
“Ridicule - stupide!” the French beauty exclaimed her deep brown eyes flaring at him as her lips pursed in anger.
Mike didn’t need to speak French or have a translator to understand what she said.
“I don’t trust her! She is an obsessed and dangerous telepath!” he defended trying to make her see some sense.
Angelique shook her head, “She is a different person without her powers and her dependency on the pheromones has made her much nicer and calmer.”
“Are you sure the neural inhibitor is working?” Mike countered his frowning face showing his doubt and disbelief.
“Oui,” she said in a huff.
He leaned down and kissed her with a longer and passionate kiss. When they separated she was smiling.
“One more question,” Mike said with a smile.
“Merde!” she swore “What is wrong with you? Lassie Tomber!”
“Just answer me this,” he said ignoring her French outbursts.
“What is it?” she responded letting out an angry sigh as she did her best to pout.
“Does the neural inhibitor have to be breathed in?” he wondered.
Her eyes flared at him for a moment.
“No, it could be injected or absorbed through the skin but a fine mist inhalation is a much better way of delivering it.”
“Good, that’s all I wanted to know,” Mike said as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
She struggled against him at first still mad at his stupid questions.
“Laisse-moi aller vous barbare,” she said fighting him a little.
“Complain, complain, complain,” he replied with a laugh.
Stopping at the edge of the bed he again leaned closer and kissed her hard. She kissed him back and then he dropped her on the bed.
“Now you are going to get what you been asking for.”
“Promesses, promesses!” Angelique said in French while kicking at him as he moved closer.
“Have it your way,” Mike said with a grin and leaped onto the bed. He landed on her as they rolled around until they fell off the bed and hit the floor. They landed with thump but were both laughing which was quickly replaced with a long kiss and the final removal of each other’s clothing.
Six hours later found Mike a little tired but with a smile on his face. He then met with Commander Bannon and his staff to review several different options to propose to the captain at the next briefing.
At the meeting each team got up and walked them through their ideas of how to take the Karduan Forward Operating Base at the Sargasso System. It was a standard course of action briefing. The problem was that Captain Hope sat there listening to their briefings and said very little. Few questions, no comments and it seemed that he wasn’t happy. Most of the briefings focused on fighting their way through the outer defense and then forcing the station to surrender.
When Cmdr. Bannon and Lt. Collins got up they had decided to switch to their second briefing option putting aside the battle plan they had formed which was very similar to Cmdr. Hutton and Cmdr. Richards’. Their plan called for a little more stealth and deception but in the end Hope was still frowning like he had just tasted something fowl in his mouth.
“Gentlemen, none of these plans are what I’m looking for,” he announced surprising no one.
“Sir, what are you looking for?” Lt. Cappillo asked without sounding flippant.
“Good question, we need something out of the box. Something that won’t get the prisoners killed and that won’t get the Black Prince killed in the process of rescuing him. This can’t be a straight up gun fight. We could force our way through just to find that they have all been executed or killed in the crossfire. This Station Mistress Bie-Tor sounds unstable from the psychological report that Dr. Beilor came up with. She could possibly take everyone down with her if she thought she might lose,” Captain Hope answered pointing out the part about the Station Mistress that most of them had read but hadn’t registered. It was an honest mistake but it was common knowledge that several ship mistresses had gone down fighting rather than face the dishonor of surrender and she fit that profile.
“Then what’s our next move, sir?” Mike inquired.
“Start over with more of a rescue mission as the goal and not a head on battle. That plan should be our last resort,” the old captain suggested and added, “We will meet back here in four hours.”
“Dismissed,” Richards announced as the room quickly emptied. The officers had a limited amount of time to whip together another idea while following the senior captain’s guidance.
Mike was the last man remaining as the others filed out the door.
“Sir, could I speak to you about a few things?” he inquired.
Hope looked at him and gave him a questioning look.
“About?” he prompted.
“Well, I have an idea for the mission but I also wanted to speak to you about that Blue noble woman, Lady Seil-Ca as well as that pirate captain cooling his heels in our brig.”
Commander Richards had paused at the door and turned back to listen. He waited to see if the captain wanted him present for this impromptu meeting.
Captain Hope made eye contact with his onetime executive officer and indicated with a subtle shake of his head that his attendance was not needed.
Richards nodded back and step out of the doorway as the automatic sensor slid the door shut.
The last thing he heard was Lt. Collins saying, “You’re probably going to think this idea is crazy.”
Chapter Eleven
Scotty Darden hurried across the open courtyard that was called the commons. He was on a mission but that wasn’t the reason he was hurrying. He just hated having to cross the commons. This was where the human prisoners would form up for their duty shifts. The Karduans would take account of the humans and then assign them the tasks that had to completed for the day. Any failure or insubordination was met with various forms of punishment.
One way the Blues used to force them into compliance included reduction of food. This was hard as their diets had become almost totally vegetarian with little meat protein. Combine that with working long repair shifts with extreme physical labor had left most of them bone thin.
Normal punishment included their slave collars. It would send an electrical shock through the body rendering a person unconscious. If left on it could kill the person in just a few minutes. Some of the senior mistresses also had ornate carved canes that were in actuality pain sticks.
These canes projected a micro-wave beam of intense pain. The pain function seemed to utilize a focused wave energy beam, which made the water molecules in a person’s cells vibrate, heating the skin and causing intense pain. It was a weapon that created a millimeter-long EM waves similar to microwaves, although much more powerful and shorter in wave range. Such waves were intended to create intense pain yet remain nonlethal or if needed they could be permanently disabling. Some pain sticks also had a laser function built into them but they had only limited power restricting their use to a few shots.
When Darden had been first captured just after his ship was gutted, he had seen a Blue male held under the beam of a pain stick screaming and writhing until he finally passed out and eventually died. It was quite a lesson to all that watched it because if they were willing to do this to one of their own people what would they do to their human captives.
Rushing around the perimeter of the commons he avoided making eye contact with the other prisoners coming out of their cells for a changing of the work shifts. They all looked bad – tired, thin and in dirty and all but worn out uniforms. He on the other hand was well fed, in a clean uniform and though very stressed he was in relatively good health.
Scotty Darden had made his deal and he was happy with it. Instead of being worked to death or tortured he had become a collaborator. He had found himself a prisoner after his medical ship, the ISS Clara Barton had failed to escape with the fleet at Bova Four. It was one of the first battles of the war and the first real defeat for the United Confederation’s navy. The Karduans had somehow managed to take control of the fleet’s drone fighters and turned them against them. A general retreat had been called and the Barton which was an older medical ship just couldn’t keep up with the rest of the fleeing Earth forces. The Blues saw no difference between a warship and a hospital or a transport vessel. The ISS Clara Barton had been quickly run down and fired upon before she could even get close to the gravity well or offer surrender. The ship that was known as the Angel of the Battlefield had been easily destroyed.
To Darden that had been a lifetime ago when he had abandoned his post and scrambled into an escape pod leaving the wounded behind to die. He was a coward and he accepted that. Often he would see their faces, the faces of the wounded and dying in his dreams. These nightmares would wake him up in a panic but then he’d calm down by reminding himself that it was better them than me.
After his escape pod was retrieved by the enemy he found that it wasn’t an act of mercy on their part. The Karduans needed slaves to work their mines and harvest their fields. Later, they made the humans repair damaged ships and even forcibly serve on some of those ships.
Scotty had been a medical records specialist or in other words he made appointments, updated records and order supplies for the various wards, infirmaries and surgical centers. He always thought it was an important job because if it wasn’t for him nobody would get
the things they needed to do their jobs.
His battle station was being an orderly aide. Basically lending a hand with the wounded and being a gofer when needed. He knew first aid but he wasn’t a corpsman or a nurse and didn’t want to be as the sight of blood made him nauseous. Specialist Darden had only joined the military because he had no other way to get money for college and after all back then it was peace time so he had no worries. All he had to do was put up with the military’s nonsense for a few years and then he could go to art school and marry Tommy-D Weaver his long time boyfriend. It was all going as planned until this stupid war broke out.
Once he was prisoner he learned about real pain, real work and real hardship. When some other prisoners were planning on jumping a guard and trying to escape he turned them in. His Karduan mistresses liked this and he then was given the job of spying on his fellow humans. Whenever someone plotted to resist, escape or sabotage a ship that they were working on he would report them. In return he was given more food and the guards didn’t abuse him as they did the others. The problem was that his fellow prisoners eventually noticed his better treatment as well as being suspicious as to how the enemy always knew their plans.
When he was confronted the obvious explanation was that a Blue telepath had discovered their plots but his inmates didn’t buy his story. When they had been captured they had quickly identified who the Karduan telepaths were and now they suddenly realized that they hadn’t seen one since their first interrogations. If it wasn’t for the guards being told to watch out for him he would have died that day. Instead, his fellow prisoners were mass shocked by their slave collars and ended up quivering on the floor in agonizing pain.
After that he was moved around a lot to different groups of prisoners to spy on them. Each time he was discovered he somehow managed to survive and would then be moved or traded to other mistresses until he finally ended up on this Forward Repair Station with Station Mistress Bie-Tor.
“Traitor!” someone said just loud enough for him to hear.
Wolf's Run: The Chase of War (Star Wolf Sqaudron Book 2) Page 42