Vengeance Lost_Ardent Redux Saga_Episode 1

by J. L. Stowers

  As Captain Veron’k handed the form back to the girl, her eyes caught Dani’s for just a moment.

  Dani almost thought she caught an apologetic glimpse of pity before Captain Veron’k walked back to the train.

  The guard nudged her toward the entrance of the holding unit. At another window, she and her crew surrendered their ID badges. When Howard approached the window, the guard pulled him back. “You’re coming with us, sir.”

  Howard squared off to the man and puffed up his chest. “What, you think this old man was just along for the ride? If you think they’re guilty of something, then you better damn well send me back there too.”

  The guard stepped back. “Uh, sir?” He turned toward his commanding officer.

  “If he wants to be interrogated, send him back. We’ll let them decide if they should charge him or not.”

  The guard in front of Howard nodded toward the intake window. “Let’s go then.”

  Howard turned and proudly presented his badge to the woman behind the glass with a smile before turning to wink at Dani.

  His actions helped melt away some of the tension trapped in her shoulders, and she smiled and mouthed Thank you towards her friend.

  The group of five followed another guard down the hallway beyond the window. His armor was the complete opposite of the normal guards’. Rather than white armor with orange accents, it was orange with white accents. No doubt to stand out among the inmates, who traditionally wore white.

  As they made their way down yet another corridor, the guard directed them one by one into small rooms with mirrored walls. Dani was the last to be locked into a room alone. As she stepped in, the guard freed her of her restraints. The floor and ceiling were white, and the walls were a dark, glassy color. A table was bolted to the floor in the center of the room with a chair on either side.

  Dani peered into one of the mirrors but was unable to see through to the other side. She sighed as she sat in one of the chairs, the icy metal reminding her of her last moments on Alaska’s Vengeance. After laying her cheek on her shoulder to get an idea of how bad she smelled, Dani straightened her chair, sat up tall, and placed her hands on the table.

  You’ve got this. It’s just a misunderstanding. Soon you’ll get a nice hot shower and to sleep in your own bed.

  She waited for what seemed like ages, her tall posture slowly slumping in exhaustion. She rolled her head back, across her shoulders, and stared up at the white tiles. They reminded her of a game she and her father used to play frequently when she was a child. Even from a young age he groomed her to think strategically.

  Standing once more, she approached the mirrored wall and stared at her reflection. Her dark hair was so greasy it looked wet. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her cheeks were slightly sunken. Her stomach growled, and her dry mouth became more obvious as she licked her lips. This will all work itself out, she tried to convince her reflection before turning to walk around the room.

  Dani slowly walked from corner to corner, forcing herself to stay mobile to increase her alertness. The last thing she wanted was to nod off before her interrogation. She had faced similar questioning in the past, but it didn’t take place here. Instead, she, Jag, and the rest of the crew had faced an interrogation from her commanding officer. He questioned their motives behind a decision she made when Alaska’s Vengeance had a run-in with the pirate captain known as Talon. Ultimately, her commanding officer understood her side of the story after speaking with each crewmember. She tried to remain confident this would offer a similar result.

  Several more minutes passed, and Dani finally sat at the table once more. Her mind drifted back to PS683 again, the image of the Louisiana, and the supernova on her aft cam.

  Her thoughts were broken by the opening of the door.

  “Captain Devereaux, it’s nice to meet you, though I do wish the circumstances were different.” The man extended a hand and flashed a million-dollar smile that instantly made her feel like she was greeting an old friend.

  “So do I. I must say, I’m a little confused about all of this.” She stood and shook his hand.

  “Please, have a seat.” He gestured as he took the chair opposite her. “I’m Detective Caswell.”

  She sat and watched as the detective produced a briefcase and laid it upon the table. Dani wasn’t even aware he had it with him when he entered the room.

  “Let’s get right to it, shall we?” He smiled again as he rifled through the contents of the case.

  “Great, I’d love to clear up this whole misun—”

  “What made you join the Vaerian forces?”

  “What? I would nev—”

  “Did you feel like betraying the Galactic Conglomerate was the only way you could step out from your father’s shadow?”

  “I’m not sure where you're getting your inf—”

  “Or was it simply because they pay better?”

  Dani stared at Detective Caswell in bewilderment. His charming facade was replaced with malice. She didn’t dare try to speak again, as he clearly wasn’t interested in anything she had to say.

  Detective Caswell slid a sheet of paper across the table to her.

  Dani’s eyes dropped to the paper. A quick glance confirmed it was her bank account statement, only with a significantly larger amount of money than she had.

  “This must be some mista—”

  “No mistake. The bank confirmed the deposit using your PIN.”

  She clenched her jaw, tiring of the interruptions.

  “Should we see what Captain Winston has to say about this?”

  “Captain Winston?” she blurted out, trying to prevent him from interrupting her again.

  Detective Caswell pulled a small screen out of the briefcase and set it on the table. A video image of Captain Winston sprang to life. The panic was clear on his face despite the distorted image. Red warning lights flashed on the bridge around him, accentuating the signal interruptions as he spoke.

  Vaerian forces … attempting to destroy PS— … shields … too strong … Devereaux … danger ... traitors … Galactic Conglomerate … will fall ... Devereaux ... no hope … find her ... too late.

  Dani clamped her hand over her mouth as the transmission ended.

  “We’ve had our best analysts study this transmission. There are massive amounts of interference so the message is fragmented, but they’re confident in their investigation and believe the message to be a warning—a warning about you, Captain Devereaux.” Detective Caswell slipped the paper and the screen back into the briefcase. “The trial begins first thing in the morning.”

  “Wait...”

  Detective Caswell raised an eyebrow. “Do you wish to confess?”

  “I... no, I didn’t do this. We didn’t do this!” She opened her mouth to say more, but the words didn’t come. Instead, her mind filled with Captain Winston’s face as he said her name. There was hope behind his eyes—she was sure of it.

  “Captain Devereaux...” Detective Caswell sighed and looked at her like a parent reluctant to punish a child. “Billions of people are dead, innocent people. They’re dead as a direct result of the actions of you and your crew.”

  Dani stared at him blankly. She may not have pulled the trigger on the blast that caused the supernova, but she felt as though he was right on some level. Those people did die. She wasn’t there to stop the enemy attack.

  Dani’s stomach turned, and she wretched as it tried to escape through her mouth. Her head was a swirl of confusion and helplessness as Detective Caswell opened the door to the hall and stepped out. Two of the holding guards entered the room. Dani’s mind was a mess. She passively let the guards pull her to her feet and practically drag her out of the room.

  The guards led her to processing, where she was stripped, searched, and sprayed down. Dani’s mind struggled to find answers in the chaos, but the assault on her senses was unrelenting. Only after she was dumped into an empty cell and left alone did she find solace.

 
She sat on the edge of the mattress and hung her head down toward her knees. Her heart ached unbearably, and she felt violated in every way possible. She wanted to slip away from the world, to crawl into the hairline crack that climbed up the wall of the cell and let the darkness consume her. She hadn’t felt this hollow since she received news that her father’s ship had been destroyed. The emptiness inside her seemed infinite. In a single day, she had completely lost herself.

  Dani fell onto her side on the bed and brought her knees up to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut. This has to be a dream, a really horrible dream. Her eyes popped open to the sound of the cell door opening.

  A broad-shouldered woman with short blonde hair entered the cell and flopped herself onto the bed across from Dani.

  Dani closed her eyes and tried to will the nightmare away, but she soon felt breath on her face.

  “Hey, you’re that captain, right? Devereaux? The one that blew up all those planets?”

  Dani peeked out through one eye and sighed before sitting up and scooting away from the woman, who was entirely too close. “That’s what they tell me.”

  “I’m Meg,” she said as she sat on the bed next to her. Her eyes shifted to the wall of bars separating the cell from the rest of the prison. “I have something for you.”

  “You... what?” Dani blinked at Meg. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

  “Hey, you’re telling me. Hang on.”

  Meg lifted up the mattress and pulled on a loose thread, opening a hidden pocket on the bottom side. She pulled out a slip of paper and hid it in her palm before rushing back across the cell to Dani’s bed and sliding the paper toward Dani’s hand.

  Dani stared at Meg for a while before taking the paper. She unfolded it to find a set of coordinates.

  S802-P825-C1106-66d.

  The wonderment on her face quickly transformed into anger as she recognized the numbers that had haunted her for the past several years. Dani wadded up the paper and threw it at the girl. “Get off my bed.”

  “You know what that means?” Meg scrambled to pick up the evidence.

  “Yes. Do you?”

  “Well, no. I was hoping you’d—”

  “Who told you to give that to me?”

  “Uh, I dunno. I was told I’d get a few extra coins at the commissary if I did. It was part of a note. Found it under my sandwich on my lunch tray. Around here, you don’t take extra coins lightly.”

  Dani groaned and rolled onto her side to face the wall.

  “Whatever, lady.”

  Dani heard Meg collapse onto her own bed. Satisfied she’d made herself clear, she closed her eyes and hoped for sleep.

  ***

  “Rise and shine, you intergalactic mass murderer. It’s time to get ready for your trial.” A guard clamored his baton against the cell bars.

  “What time is it?” Dani pried her dry eyes open, struggling to focus on the figure at the door. It felt as though she had only found the comfort of sleep mere minutes earlier.

  “Hurry up. I haven’t got all day. I need to get you to the transfer room before the other inmates get up for the day.”

  Dani made it to her feet and stepped into her slippers before leaving the cell with the guard. She rubbed her eyes as they walked, the puffiness obvious to her touch, and then scraped the dried tear residue from her cheeks. After a stop in the restroom to allow her time to freshen up, the guard escorted her through a maze of halls and locked gates before they finally reached the prisoners’ entrance to the Grand Hall.

  The moment Dani stepped into the room, she felt as though she were miles away from her cell. The thick carpet and deep blue wallpaper were a welcome break from the bare walls and bars. Even more welcoming were the faces of her crew.

  “No talking,” the guard said as he shoved Dani into a chair next to Cassia.

  Cassia looked how Dani felt. Frizzy hair, puffy eyes, blotchy skin. It was clear they’d both had similar nights. Howard was looking surprisingly refreshed. Cruz looked annoyed with the fact both his hands were cuffed to the arms of a standard-issue wheelchair. His prosthetics were gone, and his knuckles were bloodied. Jag looked to be on the receiving end of Cruz’s rage, with a stitched cut over his eye and accompanying bruises.

  Dani’s eyes darted between Jag and Cruz, trying to figure out what happened before Jag finally broke the silence. “Nah, it wasn’t him, It was that damn detective.”

  “I said no talking!” The guard lifted his baton and Jag snapped his mouth closed and pressed his lips together.

  A knock at another door pulled the guard away and Cruz quickly signed to Dani. His limits were restricted with the restraints, but she was able to get the gist of it. “Those bastards are setting us up, and they took my damn legs too.”

  Dani bit her lip and quickly signed back, “I'll get you all out of here.”

  The guard returned and glared at each of them before speaking. “They’re presenting the evidence now. You’ll soon be called in one by one to testify.”

  Hours passed as the crew sat in excruciating silence. Every attempt to communicate after Cruz and Dani’s brief exchange was quickly shut down by the attentive guard. Dani watched as one by one her crew was led through the adjoining door into the courtroom. Howard, Cruz, Cassia, Jag, and then finally Dani stepped in front of the court.

  By the time it was Dani’s turn, the courtroom was abuzz. A small man with bifocals sat at the table Dani was placed at. The rest of the crew was nowhere in sight.

  “Mr. Smitz, at your service.”

  “Uh, hi. Don’t we get time to discuss the case before we end up here?”

  “Oh, well, under normal circumstances, yes. In cases like this, not so much. It’s an open and shut case, really. I mean, there’s so much evidence.”

  Dani stared at him in disbelief. This was the man who was chosen to defend her? “But we didn’t do anything.”

  Mr. Smitz looked taken aback. “You should be happy you’re even seeing the inside of a courtroom. They technically could have executed you on sight.”

  It was Dani’s turn to be surprised. Admittedly she had never paid much attention to the Galactic Conglomerate’s legal system. She heard it wasn’t perfect, but this just seemed careless. Someone was to blame for what happened, but it most certainly wasn’t her and her crew.

  The robed judge cleared his throat as he peered down at Dani between two monstrous piles of folders. “We’ve heard from your crew, and now it’s time to hear from you. Please stand.”

  Dani obeyed, and a rumbling whisper moved through the crowd.

  “Daniella Devereaux, Captain of Alaska’s Vengeance and member of the Galactic Conglomerate's fleet, what say you on the charges of treason, desertion, and consorting with the enemy?” The judge looked down his nose at her.

  “Not guilty. I did not do any of those things. This has all been a horrible mistake.”

  The crowd rumbled again.

  A smug-looking man in a black suit stood from the table next to where Dani and Mr. Smitz were. Dani recognized him almost immediately—Mr. Andrew Latta. He was a well-known attorney who often tried cases of treason. His face frequently graced the news, where he gloated about his many victories in court and boasted about his track record for protecting the GC from those who wished it harm.

  “Ms. Devereaux,” Mr. Latta began, “the court has been presented with the evidence and received the testimony of your co-conspirators. Despite all this, you stand before the court and deny your involvement? Do you understand the consequences of your actions? How many lives were lost? An entire planetary system was destroyed, along with one of our superior warships.”

  “Do I not get the opportunity to defend myself against these accusations?”

  “Very well, Ms. Devereaux.” Mr. Latta sighed and looked at his wristwatch. “Did you or did you not have a run in with pirates within the last five years of your service without apprehending them?”

  “Yes, but I don’t—”

  “And did you
or did you not abandon your position to protect the Louisiana?”

  “Well, technically I suppose I did, but—”

  “And did your bank account receive a substantial deposit around the same time as the destruction of Planetary System 683?”

  “I guess so, but I don’t know anythi—”

  “Treason against Galactic Conglomerate is a serious offense. Those individuals found consorting with the enemy in any action resulting in crimes against the GC, particularly in times of war, shall be sentenced to death.”

  Dani slammed her bound fists down on the table in front of her. “We did not consort with Vaerian forces, or anyone else standing against the Galactic Conglomerate.”

  “Bailiff,” The judge sighed.

  A guard came and forced Dani back into her seat by her shoulders.

  She continued protesting as the guard manhandled her. “I have always done my best to serve the GC to the best of my ability. This proceeding is ridiculous! It was an impossible situation and my actions were reasonable knowing what I knew at the time.”

  “Ms. Devereaux, control yourself or I will have you forcibly removed from this courtroom as I did with the rest of your crew.”

  Hearing that her crew acted out in a similar manner gave her hope. “Surely you see that we had no ill intentions. Our orders were to aid the Louisiana. Of course we would go after the Vaerian ship in PS683. We had no idea of knowing—”

  “Remove her from my courtroom!” The judge stood and pointed at the door.

  The guard grabbed Dani by her biceps and lifted her out of the chair he had been forcibly holding her in.

  Tired of being silenced, she braced her feet on the floor and pulled back against the guard. “My record speaks for itself. I would never willingly allow anyone to be slaughtered!”

  “Stop,” the judge instructed, leaning forward on his podium and pointing the gavel at Dani. “You, Ms. Devereaux, are a traitor, and you and your crew shall be treated as such. By the power vested in me by the Galactic Conglomerate, I hereby sentence Dani Devereaux, Jag Reinhart, Cassia Simpkins, Daemon Cruz, and Howard Glenn to dea—”