by Z Gottlieb
Perque opened a door to the Transportation Room and stared at the empty platforms. CIG vehicles flew in and out of the room over the platforms. Even more upsetting, a few of the vehicles displayed an illustration of a winged creature. He didn’t recognize the species, but it had Johnson’s face. He couldn’t remember seeing wings or appendages on her that would support wings, but he knew then he had to get off the ship. She was too dangerous.
He ran to the next door opening to the Transportation Room and saw more empty platforms. The pattern continued three more times before he came to the conclusion no vehicles remained to take him back to the Aneplé territories. He would never accept becoming a CIG prisoner. He would rather die. If he was going to have to die, so would she.
Brad rushed to the cockpit in a panic just as Laco was releasing the ramps in the mid and rear sections, “Laco, drop the front ramp immediately or let me out through the emergency exit. I just received a message. I’ve got to get out and stop someone on his way to kill Shinny.”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t heard any of communication between the troops or the other vehicles indicating an immediate threat.”
“I don’t have time to talk. Drop the front emergency ramp. Now!”
Laco reluctantly released the front and emergency ramps. “I hope I’m not making a mistake letting you go without your escorts.”
Brad pushed Laco aside. “Sorry.” Brad apologized, as he slid into the hatch below the console.
Leevaal didn’t think twice when he saw Johnson slip around the divider to the cockpit. He was aware of their friendship, but when the pilot didn’t come back immediately, he pushed his way to the front, signaling to Colonel T’Lentic and Lieutenant Inklanads that there was a problem. He swung around the divider and was not surprised to see only Divazz and Laco. “Where did he go?”
“I didn’t think I had much of a choice when Pilot Johnson asked me to open the other hatches. He left through the emergency hatch under the console.”
If Leevaal had more time he would use every cuss word he knew, but at that moment, it was more important to stop the pilot from doing something stupid. Well, too late for that. But he would settle with stopping the pilot from doing too many more stupid things. He swung back around to look at Lieutenant Inklanads. “Pilot Johnson just left through the cockpit’s emergency hatch,” he yelled before he flew down the front ramp, hearing the lieutenant spout out a few more colorful phrases as she ordered the team to follow.
Leevaal was surprised how quickly the pilot moved, but caught him before he opened the door to leave the Transportation Room. He grabbed him angrily. “What are you doing, leaving without the team?”
Brad turned and stared at the sergeant and the lieutenant as she caught up. He was not going to be intimidated by them. “The AI sent a message to me. Someone is heading toward the major to shoot her. I need to get to her now.”
Lieutenant Inklanads noted the desperation on the pilot’s face. She saw that they didn’t have the luxury of time for a full sensor sweep. “Fine, we’ll go now. Stay behind Sergeant Stapernoin and me. If you push in front of us, I’ll have a couple of my troops tear your hood off and carry you back to the vehicle. Do you understand?” The pilot motioned he understood. The lieutenant took off in a rapid run with Sergeant Stapernoin next to her, with the remainder of the team bringing up the rear.
Chapter 40
Shinny sat by herself on a small island on a nude beach, surrounded by a dark murky green ocean eating away at her beach that was shrinking with each new wave. She looked around, trying to understand where she was and how she got here. The sky alternated between familiar and unfamiliar star systems and folded space. She was completely relaxed and could probably stay here forever to avoid dealing with Swetinny, except her island was shrinking rapidly. She stood and circled around. In the distance, she saw the ocean draining into Connor’s Gambit. How did she get here? She remembered being strapped on a table and the guards beating her. That had to be when her chip’s analgesic kicked in to help her relax and take the pain away. But everything else was confusing. Was she nude? Was this a beach from her memory? Shinny looked down at the surf that had risen above her ankles. She would have to swim soon. Looking at Connor’s Gambit she wondered if she would be able to swim away from it back to Earth, Brad, and Dane.
Swetinny lunged into the room, ready to kill Johnson. Everything he lived for was gone. She had somehow managed to destroy his life, his entire future. He didn’t just want to kill her, he wanted her to feel his torment, but he was stumped. Tearing her armor and clothes off allowed them to break a few bones and increase the bruising. But the more they beat her, the more she shut down. Infecting her chip with a virus did nothing. It was too bad they didn’t get the chip. That would have hurt her.
It was frustrating that all of the gardens were gone, yet she got the last of what was left of the plants when they injected the plant serum into her. He would kill her and recover what was left in the bags for his own use. He thought about shooting her with his praser, starting with her foot and working his way up her body to her head. Perhaps then she would suffer. He lifted his praser and set it on projectile. Aiming toward her foot, he fired the praser.
Leevaal and Lieutenant Inklanads ran at full speed, pulling away from the others, knowing the major’s life was in imminent danger. Leevaal kept up the grueling pace even though his chip indicated he was close. He heard the loud crack of a praser being fired and pushed himself harder, passing the lieutenant. He ran into the room with his praser in both hands, shooting the surprised face that stared at him. The direct hit threw the body against the wall from the force of the praser’s projectile setting.
Leevaal quickly searched the room for others. Seeing no one else, he dropped his praser to hang by its tether. He pulled his knife out to cut the straps holding the major. Leevaal considered himself strong when it came to this stuff, but his stomach was churning at what the Aneplé had done to her. Hearing noises behind him, he saw Johnson and the medics running into the room.
Brad ran into the room. Seeing Shinny’s bruised body, he ran to the Aneplé security officer slumped against the wall and grabbed him. Holding him in place with his left hand, he continued to punch with his right, pummeling him until he felt someone grab his arm. He looked back and saw Stapernoin, “Let go, I’m going to kill him for what he did to Shinny.”
“You can’t kill a dead man.”
“Did you kill him? I thought it was standard procedure to keep your prasers on stun?
“No, I shot him, in his shoulder to disarm him. He executed the Aneple’s suicide protocol. The neural toxins released from his back molars killed him. He is very dead.”
“It’s a good thing he is dead. Because if he weren’t, I would have made sure he never took another breath.” Brad roared. This was the second time the bastard used a praser to shoot Shinny. Thank God he was gone. He threw the limp body against the wall and walked towards Shinny.
Brad stood a few steps away from Shinny, calling her through his chip. His beautiful wife lay on the medical gurney, bruised, torn, bleeding, and all her silky long hair gone. Anguish blended with his fury and fear. He wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and protect her from further harm, but he stood back to stay out of the medics’ way as they ran up to her. Even though their medical technology was far more advanced than Earth’s, and she would be healing in short order, he was certain the brutality she had been subjected to would remain in her psyche.
The medics ran to Major N’Klaftin and removed the pumps from her body and began treating the wounds. One of the medics pulled a small package out of her pack and unfolded a blanket to place on the major.
Brad walked over to Shinny after a medic motioned to him it would be fine. He stared at her bruised body and gently caressed her shaved head while tears pooled in his eyes. Brad looked at the medic closest to him. “Why did they do this?”
“There isn’t a reason for the beatings other than to humil
iate people before they kill them,” Stapernoin whispered to Brad.
“Keep calling her. She needs your help to pull out of this, the medic encouraged Brad.
“Shinny, Shinny, can you hear me? Please wake up. I’m here with you. Everything will be fine,” he sent through his chip.
Shinny heard Brad’s voice and ignored it. Somehow the Aneplé had managed to break through the encryption in her chip and she needed to fight it. Shinny tried to make sense of what she was seeing and feeling to determine what was really happening. Earlier she had scraped her foot against a rock and it hurt quite a lot at that time, but her foot felt fine now. It bothered her she could not remember seeing any rocks on her island.
Shinny looked around at the green ocean swirling around her shoulders and waded. Keeping her head above water, she wondered if she should flow with the water into the dark hole or swim away.
“Shinny, can you hear me? I’m right here. Everything will be all right. But I need you to wake up,” Brad’s voice begged her.
Shinny waded and stared at Brad reaching out for her. “Swetinny, very good. The Aneplé may have broken the encryption on my chip, but I won’t tell you anything.”
“Shinny, it’s me, Brad. I’m on the Kisskalu with you. The Aneplé have either left the ship or are surrendering.”
She remained quiet. Ignoring the Swetinny’s pleas.
“Shinny, this is Brad, your husband. We have a son. He’s named after your father, Teledane. Please wake up; I need you to return to Earth with me.”
“Swetinny, you stole that information from my chip. If you’re Brad, tell me something not on my chip,” she yelled, furious at what he had stolen from her.
“Shinny, please wake up. I don’t understand. There isn’t anything I know that you don’t know.”
Shinny waded in the water, waiting for something outside of her chip’s memories to prove the intrusion wasn’t Swetinny. She wouldn’t wait much longer. The Aneplé had all of her information; she would rather swim to Connor’s Gambit than give them more.
“Ravelstan returned Lucky to my stateroom. It’s on the Zuonopy.”
Brad reached for her.
She grabbed his hand.
She opened her eyes. The beach was gone, replaced with the sterile clinic she’d been interrogated in. Brad hovered over her, looking worried, as he caressed her. “Lucky is back on the Zuonopy?” Her voice cracked dryly.
Smiling, he continued caress her cheek. “Ravelstan made sure it was on the vehicle to surprise me. Are you ready to go home?”
“Almost,” she whispered hoarsely, smiling weakly. “Yeshawliq, send us your stateroom number.”
Brad carried Shinny wrapped snuggly in the blanket as he followed Lieutenant Inklanads and Sergeant Stapernoin to Yeshawliq’s stateroom. He hoped it would be worth it because both Inklanads and Stapernoin fought him on it. Finally, they agreed when they had received notice the Command Bridge and the engine room were secured and under full control of the Zuonopy officers. The Kisskalu was no longer drifting toward Connor’s Gambit.
The door to Yeshawliq’s stateroom opened and four of the troops walked in to ensure it was secured. It didn’t take too long before they came out to report it as the cleanest spot on the ship. Somehow, the AI had managed to keep the room hidden from the Aneplé. It was immaculate, with hundreds of small robotic devices on shelves docked against the walls. It was literally its own world separated from the chaotic destruction and filth of the Kisskalu he was familiar with.
Brad walked into the room with Shinny in his arms. Shinny lifted her head and pointed to a drawer and whispered, “Pull that drawer out completely.” As Sergeant Stapernoin pulled the drawer out of the cabinet, she instructed him further, “At the very back there is a card in a port. Pull it out, straight.”
Brad watched as Stapernoin reached back and pulled a case the size of his tablet. He tilted it, revealing the layers of ultra-thin processing wafers. Brad wondered how powerful the device might be. Stapernoin passed the case to Shinny, who was reaching for it. “Is there anything else, Major?”
Shinny pointed to a toy on a chair. “Could you also pass that to me, please?
“Thank you,” she whispered, as Sergeant Stapernoin handed her the toy. Leaning her head on Brad’s chest, she whispered, “I’m ready to leave.”
Brad carried Shinny while continuing to hold her tightly to him, as he followed the lieutenant and sergeant to the front of the cruiser, where Laco’s vehicle was located. As he stepped on the platform he saw Fernando standing by a Swarm Defender talking to a group of officers. Fernando dismissed them as Brad approached. When he looked at Fernando’s Swarm Defender he groaned, thinking something really was lost in translation. On the fuselage was an illustration of Ravelstan as a fairy with wings in a stylized technician uniform. He bit the inside of his lip, knowing he would laugh later. “Admiral, welcome aboard. How long will you be on the Kisskalu?”
“Johnson, it’s good to see your mate and you. How is she doing?” Fernando asked, clearly concerned over her appearance.
“She’s healing. Her chip has been working overtime and she’s already better than when we found her,” Brad explained as he shifted her to stabilize his hold.
“Glad to hear she is better. The Little Mothers have been waiting for word. I’ll send word she is safe.” He met Brad’s gaze. “I’ll be on the Kisskalu for a while, since I will be taking her in for repairs. My family was not happy to hear about it, but they were appeased when I requested permission to court Ravelstan.” Turning toward his Defender, he pointed to the illustration. “What do you think? It’s in honor of your mate. What does it mean?”
Brad smiled. “Congratulations. The illustration is of a character in our literature known for her devotion, loyalty and love for her friend. Your illustration is appropriate, considering the change in your status with Ravelstan.” He crinkled his brow in confusion. “I’m not sure I understand. You had to request permission to court Ravelstan?”
“It’s a formality, no more, although it did help to have Wesgwidy’s approval of Ravelstan.”
Shinny lifted her head. “Admiral, congratulations. We wish you both many happy years filled with many Little Mothers and maybe one or two more admirals.”
Fernando laughed. “Thank you, I will share it with Ravelstan.”
“Admiral, before we leave, Yeshawliq asked that I give you the code to her daughter she left on board. It’s a sterile AI; her personality will develop over time, if you decide to initiate her. Also, codes for your custodian officer to unlock the devices in her stateroom.” She reached over to the admiral’s port behind his ear to pass the information.
Fernando processed the new data. “I’ve got it.” He looked at both of them. “When will you be returning to your home planet?”
“We are leaving on the first flight out; we have a son we both miss very much. Shinny will hibernate to heal, and I think I could use a good week or so to sleep off my time on the Kisskalu,” answered Brad.
Fernando leaned over and hugged both of them. “Have a safe trip. The Neslins owe both of you for rescuing the colony. You will always be welcomed on Neslin. Ravelstan and I expect to see both of you when we exchange our nuptial vows.”
Brad nodded a salute. “Message received.” He turned and carried Shinny to the transport vehicle for the return to the Zuonopy.
Epilogue
Brad sat at a reserved table in an alcove in CIG’s Dining Facility on Earth with Shinny. Both of them were eating pizza, waiting for Connor and Nan before they picked up their children in hibernation. It felt good to be eating pizza, but he missed the familiar comfort of his uniforms. When did jeans become so uncomfortable? At least he could wear the shoes home. No one would suspect anything with their generic tennis shoe cover. He looked at Shinny nibbling on her pizza, thinking she looked healthier, close to a hundred percent.
Shinny looked back at Brad. “I’ve decided to change my service branch and specialty.”
“Oh?” After a moment of reflection, he added, “Shinny, I hope I didn’t give you the impression I didn’t support your personal choices.” The truth was, while she was competent as a Special Combat Officer, he was uncomfortable thinking about her participating in any combat role again. But he would support her decision if that was what she wanted.
“It isn’t you. I had been considering it for a while. I enjoyed creating the cloned chips, the chip shields and the small devices I designed on the Kisskalu. It’s something I could continue doing here and still be productive in the Fleet. I’ve been thinking about taking over Yeshawliq’s work and improving the devices she created on the Kisskalu.”
Brad felt a wave of relief. “You would be good at that. That was apparent with the number of items you created on the Zuonopy and Kisskalu. What about protecting Connor? Who would do that?”
“As you shared with me years ago, he’s a big boy and can protect himself. Between Dane and you, an Aneplé spy would be sniffed out immediately. You will probably have to travel back here with Connor occasionally, just to give the place a smell test.”
“It might be more effective if you could create a device that could sniff out the plant odor on the station. When I come back to the station, I want to focus on quality time with Travis in the trainer.”
Shinny’s eyes lit up from the suggestion. “It’ll be my first project after I transfer as a Custodian Officer.”
Connor and Nan approached their table and took seats across from them.
“How did it go?” Shinny asked.
Nan shook her head. “There was some disappointment my team could not recommend contact with Earth at this time. But they did agree to extend the observation period for a few more decades.”