by Trevor Wyatt
“What she endured was terrible, true. It was unimaginable. Plain evil. And it’ll take her time to recover,” Mahesh said. “But so do you. What you experienced today was… emotional and psychological. No one is ever prepared for the mental abuse that follows after seeing a loved one being tortured. This doesn’t exempt you.”
Jeryl looked away from the man. He wasn’t ready to hear his doctor tell him he was unfit for duty, especially when there were crew members in earshot, who were depending on him, and when they were still in very hostile territory with an uncertain escape plan.
“Is that your professional opinion or are you just guessing?” Jeryl said. “Because the last time I checked you were a medical doctor, not a shrink.” Like most other captains, Jeryl hated shrinks and the mandatory two year psych evaluation he had to report to continue his captaincy.
Mahesh sneered. “I may be a medical doctor, but I’m also qualified to conduct a psych evaluation. It’s part of my job description, in fact. I am the crew’s shrink as well as its doctor.”
“You win,” Jeryl said. “You can come with us, so long as you don’t try and mess with my brain.”
Mahesh drew closer and spoke to Jeryl in a whisper.
“And everything I’ve said is true, Jeryl,” Mahesh had said. “After we get back to the ship, I’m putting you on a mandatory command rest. If you resist, I’ll report all you’ve had to endure to Armada Command and they’ll have to have you evaluated. You won’t like what they find.”
Jeryl felt the cold hand of terror grip his heart. He swallowed hard.
“I don’t respond well to threats, Mahesh.”
Mahesh nodded with a smile. “I know. That’s why it isn’t a threat. That’s a promise.”
Jeryl held the man’s gaze for a second. Then he faced the rest of the crew and said, “Let’s move out.”
They methodically moved from room to room, section to section. Most of the deck had been cleared in the initial move of the crew from the cargo bay hold to the holding facility. After carefully observing the spread of bogeys in the quadrant, using the device that Sef was able to get from the Tyreesian guard, Jeryl was able to divide the crew into teams of different strengths to take over decks with different levels of hostiles.
Jeryl’s team had the highest fire power and they had to take down the officer’s mess, which was adjacent to the armory.
Jeryl led the team all the way to the door.
“Ready?” he asked Kaia. He knew Tira seemed to possess more raw talent for this kind of thing, but Kaia was more experienced. She and Jeryl had fought together before so she knew how to work with him.
Kaia nodded.
“How many bogeys in the main hall?” Jeryl asked.
“Twenty,” replied Sef, who also held a rifle.
“In the armory?” Jeryl asked.
“None,” replied the Sonali.
“Maybe they already have what they want,” said Mahesh by way of explanation.
“Twenty hostiles with guns,” Jeryl said. “That’s hardly fair.”
“Yet, necessary,” Kaia said.
“We’re more likely to get torn into pieces than to survive,” said Mahesh. “We should rethink our strategy.”
“We should,” Jeryl agreed. “We just don’t have that time. We need to proceed, now.”
“Sir, let me go in first,” Tira said.
“What?” Kaia, who was ahead of her, blurted. “You’ll get chopped to pieces.”
But Tira wasn’t looking her way. She was staring directly at Jeryl.
“I’m small, I’m fast, you’ve seen me fight,” she said. She pulled out a small canister from behind her. “I have this. I could take them all out in a minute. I just need to go in alone.”
“Ensign, I can’t ask you to do this,” Jeryl said. Of course he could see the benefits—anything that would give them a fighting chance. If he was even half as agile and small as she was, he would have volunteered too.
“I know sir,” she replied. “I want to do it.”
There was a long pause
“Okay,” Jeryl said. “But this is how we’d do it instead. You’ll go ahead of us and set off that flash bang. We’ll come right after you twenty seconds later to help take them down. You might be badass, but you’re no No One.”
“I’m sorry, who?” Tira asked.
Jeryl frowned. “No One? Armada Intelligence?”
Tira shook her head. “Never heard of her.”
“That’s odd,” Mahesh said. “Who hasn’t heard the ghost stories of No One?”
“Tira, apparently,” Jeryl said with a chuckle. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Tira stood in front of the door; she looked over her shoulder at Jeryl.
Jeryl gave her a thumbs up.
She smiled, then lobed the flash bang into the room. There was a bang as Tira entered the room.
What followed was an intense firefight that seemed to intensify with each passing second. Jeryl felt his heart beat faster with each scream of terror or explosion. He didn’t wait for the twenty seconds mark. At fifteen seconds, he leapt forward, gun leading.
He forged into the smoky room. To his immediate right was a Tyreesian that was about to shoot Tira, who was farther towards the end of the officer’s mess tackling a group of three officers.
Jeryl was about to shout for Tira to dodge, when he watched her leap into the air—more than a normal human should be able to. The blast from the bogey caught all three officers in the chest. Still in midair, Tira twisted so she faced the door, then shot the officer in the head and landed on her feet.
Jeryl had only seen one other person that moved like that. No One. He glanced at her, then looked around at all the dead Tyreesian officers. The smoke was still clearing up. The rest of the team came running into the officers’ mess to find the Tyreesian soldiers dead on arrival.
Once the air cleared up, they saw that this part of the quadrant had also been sealed.
“If we’re going to get out of here, sir, we need to do it with Veld,” Kaia told her.
“I agree,” Jeryl replied, still looking at Tira. He was beginning to see why Ferriero liked her. She was young and had an average height; she also had a solid build and fierce eyes. Spunk, was one word he would use to describe her.
“Let’s go back and get him, then,” Jeryl said.
Jeryl and his team arrived at the holding facility just in time. Veld was stepping out of the cells in a surreptitious manner; when he saw them heading in his direction, he turned to run.
Tira and Kaia both leapt into action almost at the same time, though Tira started out earlier. They chased him down before he turned on a corner and then leapt onto him, sending him down to the floor.
Chapter 20
Jeryl walked toward the trio. Tira and Kaia were both pulling up the Tyreesian to his feet as he tried to struggle against the strong grips of the two officers. When he tried to kick back, Tira let go and struck him across the face.
The sound of Veld’s scream was like an explosion. He cried out, grasping his cheek with his hands. Kaia smiled with approval at Tira, who went back to holding the Tyreesian’s hand down.
“Try doing that again and you won’t even be conscious to feel the pain,” Tira whispered at him.
“How dare you strike me?” Veld boomed the moment he recovered from the shock. Jeryl could see his cheek turn a deep shade of red. Tyreesians didn’t have a particular skin color; like humans their skin color varied from brown to white—and there was no discrimination among them because, unlike humans, their skin was silky.
If situations had been different, Jeryl would have upbraided the young officer for assaulting a prisoner of the Armada. But things were the way they were. There was a lot of bad blood between the crew and this particular Tyreesian.
Veld didn’t only violate both Jeryl and Ashley, he had also violated the ship and its crew. Many died as a result of his plan, and Jeryl swore to himself that Veld was going to suffer greatly at their hands.
If they made it out of this place with their ship, Jeryl highly doubted that Veld would survive being left alone in the brig.
Someone would come to murder him. If it weren’t Ashley herself, it would be Adachi, Ashley’s closest friend on the ship. And if it weren’t Adachi, it would be Jeryl.
This time, vengeance would be his.
Jeryl approached the Tyreesian. Veld glared at him with slits wide apart. The look on his face was one of terror and rage.
“So you can dish it out but you can’t take it, huh?” Jeryl whispered to the Tyreesian.
“You would not,” Veld said. “You are a weak and spineless worm. You cannot even fornicate with your own wife and you want to…what is that phrase you humans use? You want to fuck with me? I expect more from my weak and feeble slaves than I do from you.”
Jeryl felt rage descend upon him. He immediately saw flashes of himself beating Veld to death and enjoying it.
He gave Veld a wry smile.
“Why are you smiling?” asked Veld, terror back on his face.
“Because you don’t know how fucked you are now,” Jeryl replied. “You think you’ll somehow escape from me and run back to daddy’s arms?”
“Well, I think I should be the one asking you that. You have nowhere to go,” Veld hissed “You have nowhere to hide. We are deep in Tyreesian space with no escape.”
He smiled. “I would say I am not concerned about me returning to, as you put it, daddy’s arms.”
Jeryl laughed at the Tyreesian. “You don’t know who I am.”
Veld said, “Oh, but I do. Who would not know the great Captain Jeryl Montgomery, Avenger of the Mariner and Father of the Galactic Council? The way you led the Terran Armada to war against the Sonali Combine and brought them down inspired a lot of us. We even study your battle tactics in our war colleges. There are a lot of us who would give an arm and a leg to kill you. You are some sort of a prized hero on Tyrone.”
“I thought the Tyreesian home world was Tyrose?” Tira said.
Veld glanced at her. “Who is talking to you?”
Then he looked at Jeryl.
“Do you let your subordinates talk when you are having a conversation with your equal?”
“Answer the damn question,” Tira bawled, “or get it across the face again.”
Veld said, “We have three home worlds. Tyrose is where the government is domiciled. Tyrune is where we build everything; it is the industrial heart of the collective. Tyrone is where the military and security forces are. And do you know what they do with prized heroes like you?” asked Veld.
Jeryl shrugged.
“They hunt them down and capture them,” Veld replied. “Imagine how famous I would be when everyone finds out that I have captured and detained the amazing Jeryl Montgomery of the TUS Seeker. I will never be forgotten in the history of our great worlds.”
“You haven’t won yet, Veld,” Jeryl said. “Don’t count your eggs before they hatch. I’ll ensure my crew gets off this ship safely, and I’ll make sure you come back to Terran space with me to stand trial for what you’ve done.”
Jeryl waited, then glanced at Tira to see the young ensign looking at him.
“Or die en route from your many wounds,” Jeryl continued.
Veld’s face twisted in confusion. “What wounds?”
Tira was the one who answered. “The ones you’ll get if you take the wrong foot or lead us astray.”
“You will not get away with this,” Veld said. “You will end up back in that cell with your wife stripped stark naked and being tortured by me.”
Jeryl reached out instantly and grabbed the Tyreesian. He hauled the man into the air, yanking him off Kaia’s and Tira’s hands, and slammed him against the wall. Veld hit the wall so hard that the Tyreesian spurted blood out his mouth.
Veld let out a guttural cry, his eyes shut in pain.
Jeryl pulled him back and slammed him into the wall again. More blood spluttered out Veld’s mouth. He was about to do it again, when Mahesh grabbed his arm.
Jeryl glared at the doctor. Mahesh shuddered under Jeryl’s fiery gaze, but he still stood his ground.
“You don’t want to kill him now,” Mahesh said. “We need him as leverage to get off this ship.”
Jeryl threw the Tyreesian at the feet of Kaia and Tira. Veld coughed and sputtered more blood. He was grappling with unconsciousness and he constantly emitted a high-pitched cry of pain.
“What’s it like to taste your own poison?” Jeryl said to the Tyreesian. Still enraptured by the rage he felt, he took a step towards the struggling Tyreesian and was about to kick him hard before Mahesh stepped in front of him.
“Come on, Jeryl,” Mahesh said. “That’s enough.”
Jeryl sighed in frustration and looked away. Veld made it extremely difficult to think of him without wanting to bury an axe on his head.
“I’m sorry I lost my cool,” Jeryl whispered to Mahesh. “He’s just impossible.”
“You can say that again,” Mahesh said. “Look, we have to move. We can’t stay trapped in this quadrant forever. The Tyreesians may be regrouping to launch an assault here.”
Jeryl turned his gaze back to the Tyreesian. Kaia and Tira had managed to get him onto his feet; from the looks of it, they were the ones keeping him standing.
Jeryl felt the urge to taunt and mock Veld. But he knew it would just descend into another fight.
Just then, Adachi , Ashley, and their team walked into the holding facility.
Ashley saw Veld, blood all over his face.
“What happened?” she asked.
Jeryl was too ashamed to reply, so he didn’t.
Mahesh said, “Veld is too mouthy. We’re keeping him in check so we can use him as leverage to get out of here.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Adachi asked.
“We need to find the Seeker,” Jeryl said. He turned to Sef and asked, “Can you tell me where the ship is?”
Sef who had been silently observing the entire proceeding behind Jeryl looked at his device.
“I can’t tell you where it is,” Sef replied. “But I can tell you where it’s not. It’s not in this quadrant.”
“Well, what quadrant is it in?” Jeryl asked.
“I don’t have access to that information,” Sef said. “The lockdown protocol shut me out of the entire station’s system. The control room is just beside that bend.”
He pointed to where Veld had been headed to when they had caught up with him.
“We can view the entire station from there,” he said.
“Come with me,” Jeryl said. “Ashley, Adachi and Mahesh, you too.”
Jeryl turned to Tira and said, “I want you to gather all the senior officers of the CNC. Let them assemble in the general area of this holding facility. The rest of the crew should get ready to leave this place.”
Veld began to laugh again. This time he was doing it with his slits closed, still in pain.
“Something funny?” Jeryl obliged him.
“The confidence with which you order your subjects,” Veld replied. “As though you think you can just walk out of a Tyreesian space station like that.”
Jeryl hissed at the Tyreesian. He looked at Kaia and said, “Don’t let him out of your sight.”
“Roger,” she replied.
Jeryl led Ashley, Adachi, and Mahesh down the bend to a small door. The door was open and led into a spacious room that looked like the CNC of a space ship. They found the master work station close to the small view screen.
“Sef, you’re the expert here,” Jeryl said. “Work your magic.”
Sef fidgeted and said, “I have no magic sir. I believe in science and the…”
“Oh, come on!” Mahesh exclaimed. “It’s an expression. He’s telling you to do your thing.”
Sef glanced back and shrugged. “Sorry.”
Then, he placed his device on the nearest platform and went over the view screen and activated the work station. The control room came alive, lig
hts blaring on. It was somehow put in sleep mode due to the absence of any controller.
Adachi and Mahesh went over to help Sef. Mahesh held his tablet to translate the Tyreesian commands on the screen, leaving Jeryl and Ashley standing in the back of the control center. There was an awkward silence between them for a minute, until Jeryl decided to break the ice.
“How are you feeling?” Jeryl said. His voice was tight and terse.
“Fine, thank you Captain,” Ashley replied.
It was courteous and neat, just like how Ashley was. But he could hear it in her voice—she blamed him for everything that had happened to her. She hated him. She was angry at him. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was repulsed by him.
“I’m sorry…”
“Please, Jeryl don’t,” Ashley said, cutting him short. The anger in her voice caused his heart to hurt.
Ashley glanced over her shoulder to look at him.
“Please, just don’t. We have a mission to do. Let’s just do it and get the hell out of here. Can we?”
Jeryl nodded, biting back his words. It was worse than he anticipated.
“We’ve located the ship,” Sef said.
Jeryl and Ashley headed over to the work station. They were all crowded around Sef, who was operating the work station. The work station was a single semicircular platform held one and a half yards up by a thin pole. The interface was holographic, and the view screen three yards away responded as Sef operated the station.
“Long story or short?” Mahesh said.
“Short,” Jeryl replied.
“There are four quadrants,” he replied. “This is the beta quadrant. Our ship is docked in the alpha quadrant.”
“How do we get there?” asked Ashley. “All the airlocks are sealed. Even the pathways have been retracted.”
“Tyreesian matter transport or what we call the teleporter,” said Ashley. “From everything that Armada Intelligence has gleaned and let be known about Tyreesian operations on space stations, n the case of an emergency in this quadrant, say like a fire or a breach that isn’t contained, the teleporter control is freed and the control room can use the teleportation device to move occupants between quadrants. According to the computer’s system, they keep a teleporting platform right here on the control center.”