Shektee stood staring at Captain Remington for a few seconds as the turbulence of the takeoff shook the cabin. Captain Remington stood his ground, watching to see what she was going to do. Finally, Shektee moved to take a seat next to Bruce, shifting to one of her human forms as she did.
“Hello, Bruce. I find myself in need of your assistance. Captain Remington has captured Mystique and I need to make sure she’s not harmed,” Shektee explained as she watched Captain Remington slowly move toward his weapon.
“Captain Remington, you may retrieve your weapon if it will make you feel better. I’m here to surrender myself. The pilot is taking us to your ship so that I can verify that Mystique is recovering and safe. If this isn’t agreeable to you, then Bruce will verify Mystique’s conditions for me.”
Captain Remington grabbed his assault rifle because it did make him feel better. He knew it probably wouldn’t hurt her but at least he’d die fighting if it came to that. He also changed the signal his armor was transmitting from red to yellow, stopping the ship from attacking. “What’d you do to the pilot?” he demanded.
“Nothing much. He is weak-willed so it was easy for me to take control of him. I’ve not harmed him in any lasting way,” Shektee replied. “Captain, I understand you are scared, but please speak to me with respect. If I lose my temper, I believe it would make matters worse.”
Captain Remington started to protest but stopped himself. “How do I know you won’t attack once we get on the ship?”
“Captain, please, careful with the tone,” Bruce pleaded before Shektee could answer.
Shektee released the breath she was holding and explained. “You will undoubtedly have us arrive where you will have a group of soldiers waiting for us. Also, Mystique is your prisoner. I will do nothing to endanger her welfare.”
“Will the pilot do what I tell him?”
“Yes. now he will.”
“Dock in hangar bay alpha.”
“Hangar bay alpha. Yes, sir.”
“I’ll have Bruce taken to see Mystique while you’re taken to the brig,” Captain Remington stated, trying to sound more respectful. He just had to keep her co-operative for a little longer.
“Very well. I’ll need to speak with Bruce once he’s seen Mystique. Captain, be very careful how Mystique is treated; there is a lot more going on than you realize,” Shektee warned, though she didn’t expect Captain Remington to believe her.
“Shektee, may I ask you a question? “ Bruce asked
“Certainly. You may ask any question you wish, though I may choose not to answer.”
“What happened to you at the diner, when you took the book from Mystique? Mystique told us you just disappeared.”
Shektee smiled. Bruce was a cunning young human. He was trying to get her to tell Captain Remington about the ancient. Very well. Maybe a little more information would keep them from harming Mystique. “My true master summoned me back across the dimensional barrier.”
Captain Remington realized the answer was meant more for him than Bruce. “What master?” he asked bluntly, not used to subtle interrogations.
“Excuse me, but I’m talking to Bruce, not you,” Shektee replied in a voice dripping with venom and sarcasm.
“I thought Daemon was your master,” Bruce put in quickly, trying to defuse the tension in the air.
“Daemon can tell me what to do and I must obey because my true master has instructed me to. Daemon tasked me with keeping Mystique alive and to follow her orders. Angelica has forbidden me from killing what you call innocent humans. I must try to follow her instructions or I risk Daemon’s wrath. I personally find it beneath me to have to follow any human’s orders, but my true master would punish me in ways you cannot imagine if I failed him.”
“That sounds like it could get very complicated, trying to keep all of them happy,” Bruce observed. Shektee was a little surprised when she felt his compassion for her.
“May I ask a question?” Captain Remington asked, trying a more conversational tone and manner.
“Yes.”
“You said that your master summoned you back across the dimensional barrier. What dimension are you from?”
Shektee started to answer but before she could say anything, she buckled over in agony. Bruce unbuckled himself and moved to help her. Captain Remington observed her reaction, fascinated by what was happening. Bruce struggled to lift her and refused to give up until he had her back in her seat. The moment Bruce had her back in the chair, the pain was gone with only the soreness in her jaw as a reminder. Bruce gave her a quick visual inspection before he sat back in his seat and buckled in.
“It seems that I am not allowed to answer that question. I think I am done answering any more questions for now,” Shektee stated as she sat back and rested her head on the cushion. Pain normally triggered her combat form and aggression, but the ancient had stopped that from happening. He wanted them to know he was watching and was in control of her. Bruce was concerned for her as well as for himself, which Shektee found interesting given his fear of her. Captain Remington was nervous and anxious.
***
Bruce was escorted to the medical bay while two squads of heavily armed and armored troops escorted Shektee to the brig. Shektee thought about changing her plan and attacking. She'd made a simple gesture as she left the shuttle and the reaction of the troops was enough to tell her that she could take control of about half of them. They were armed with weapons that could hurt her, so she’d have to be careful while her men fought their companions, but she was confident that she would survive. The problem was that a simple call from any one of them could cause Mystique’s death, so she went quietly.
Bruce was escorted by two marines in heavy powered armor. They took him to the observation window so he could see Mystique. She was floating in a tank filled with a pinkish liquid. Bruce was taken aback by the amount of bruising covering her body and her lack of hair. It looked like her body was one big purple and green bruise. The doctor explained that she was in a regeneration chamber. The liquid would provide all the nutrients her body needed to heal as well as stimulate cell growth. The doctor also explained to Bruce that Mystique was healing rather quickly and he expected to be able to return her to Captain Remington’s care sooner than planned.
Bruce stood watching Mystique until one of his escorts motioned for him to leave. One of the marines lead the way, while the other held his rifle leveled at Bruce’s back. It didn’t take them long to arrive at the brig where Captain Remington was waiting for them. Shektee was floating in the middle of her cell. She watched him intently as he was led over to Captain Remington.
“How is Mystique?” Shektee asked, tired of waiting.
“The doctor said—” was all Bruce got out before the soldier behind him struck him with the butt of his rifle. The force of the blow knocked Bruce to his knees.
“You weren’t given permission to speak to the prisoner,” the guard told him, holding his rifle ready to strike Bruce again.
“Stop him,” Shektee ordered one of the guards and, to everyone’s surprise, the soldier raised his rifle and fired. The soldier standing over Bruce was shot in the leg, causing him to fall over backward. Half of the guards in the room took aim on their companion while the other half stood motionless.
“Hold your fire,” Captain Remington yelled as he realized what Shektee’d done. He was both amazed and terrified by the idea that she controlled half of his men and could turn them against him whenever she chose.
“Everyone, clear the room!” Captain Remington yelled, letting his fear give his voice volume. The troops not under Shektee’s control started to carefully move toward the exit. Shektee thought a minute then nodded and the rest of the troops started to leave.
Captain Remington pulled Bruce up to his feet while the soldiers left the room. Two soldiers stopped and helped their wounded companion down the corridor toward the medical bay. Two minutes later, there were only three people left in the brig.
�
�I will not allow you or your men to assault Bruce while he is in my employ,” Shektee stated.
“You’re the prisoner here. You don’t give orders!” Captain Remington raged, his fear turning to anger. “How dare you”
“Leave!” Shektee ordered, crushing Captain Remington’s will under the force of her fury. Captain Remington went glassy-eyed turned and then left the brig. Bruce was caught in the middle and he knew it. He really wanted to leave, but he also knew that Shektee wanted to know about Mystique. One thing did occur to him, though.
Bruce looked around and noticed that there were a number of cameras. He hoped they also had microphones. “Hey, somebody should go get Captain Remington before he leaves the ship,” Bruce yelled to the nearest camera.
“Spoilsport,” Shektee stated as she stuck her tongue out at Bruce, breaking the tension in the air.
***
Captain Remington regained consciousness to find himself restrained to a bed in the medical bay. His second in command and the medical officer were standing nearby and monitoring his condition. At first he didn’t remember why he was there or what’d happened. A few seconds later, his memory started to clear and he remembered everything.
“Get me out of these restraints,” he ordered, causing the doctor to step around the monitor and up to his bed.
“First we have to make sure there are no residual effects of the mind control. The tests should be complete in a few minutes; until then, please try to relax.”
“Lieutenant, get me the captain,” Captain Remington ordered as he lay back and tried to decide what to do.
A few minutes later the CO, the XO, and the master-at-arms were standing at Captain Remington’s bed. The topic of conversation was what to do with Shektee. As expected, the CO and master-at-arms wanted to kill her and get her corpse off the ship. Only the XO seemed willing to support Remington in his desire to keep her prisoner. He couldn’t fault them for their attitude. He’d wanted the same thing at first, but given a little time he’d changed his mind. The information they could get from her was too valuable.
“I understand your concerns and the danger to the crew, but she’s too valuable an asset to destroy unless absolutely necessary,” he stated, ending the discussion. The CO could override his authority if he deemed the situation was endangering the ship.
“I think the prison on Beta Zulu Omega should be able to hold her. We keep her in total isolation during the entire trip. The only person to have any contact with her will be Bruce. She doesn’t seem to want to hurt him. He’ll also be kept isolated from the crew. Mystique stays in medical under sedation.” Remington explained his plan to them and then gave them a chance to ask questions. The three were well-disciplined and understood their orders, so there were no questions.
“Doctor, what can you tell us about the creature’s mind control?” the ship’s captain asked.
“Not much. There’s no physical sign of anyone being under her control expect when they are actually doing something that she commands. There does seem to be a few minor indicators in the brainwave patterns of those she has controlled. The victims are a bit more aggressive and the pain-pleasure signals within their brains are a little closer, causing them to feel some pleasure while they’re in pain. I expect those changes to dissipate and fade away within a few days, depending on the length of time the person was controlled,” the doctor started to explain, but Remington cut him off before he could continue.
“So there’s no way of telling who she has under her control?”
“No, not without a full brain scan and even then I am not certain that we can trust the results.”
“All right. The longer she’s onboard the higher the chance she has of gaining control of more crewmembers. So, we leave immediately. I’ll compose a message for high command informing them of our prisoners and my plans. Clear the forward berthing compartment and have Bruce put in it,” Remington instructed as the doctor released him from his restraints.
***
Bruce sat at one of the control panels wondering how much trouble he was in and thinking about how badly his life had been screwed. There was no way he was ever going to be allowed to go to the naval academy now. He’d been arrested for high treason and was consorting with a demon. Not to mention that his girlfriend was the murdering psychopath who summoned the demon. He’d be lucky if they sent him to a prison colony and didn’t just execute him.
He’d told Shektee about how Mystique was doing and she seemed pleased, which hopefully meant she wasn’t going to kill anyone. But how was Captain Remington going to react once he broke her spell? He was probably going to try and kill her once he figured out how, without sending someone in with them, that she could dominate. Which left Bruce to figure out whose side he was on. At some point, Captain Remington and the federation would win, but Shektee was going to take a lot of people with her. The fact she was in a zero-g prison cell didn’t mean much. If he turned against her, maybe he could convince Remington not to kill him or throw him in prison, but she’d probably kill him. His life was over.
Bruce heard the intercom order for him to exit the room, but he’d worked himself into a full-blown depression. The second time the announcement was a bit louder, so Bruce figured that whoever wanted to see him was getting impatient. Not one to avoid trouble, Bruce dragged himself out of the chair and started heading for the exit.
Shektee watched as Bruce got up to leave. She’d felt the increase in despair in him and now his body language told everyone he was beaten. “Bruce, stop,” she ordered
Bruce knew better than to ignore her so he did as he was told.
“Look at me.” Bruce didn’t want to, but again he knew he had to so he turned and look at the demoness that was Shektee’s true form. She was both beautiful and terrifying. He expected her to use some mind control power on him, but she didn’t
“You are here as my representative. You are here to make sure Mystique is treated properly. You are here to save the lives of many humans. You know that I’m not the only one of my kind and that I serve a master much more powerful than me. Believe me when I tell you his vengeance will be terrible. You are here to make sure he does not have to unleash his wrath on the human race. As my representative, you will act with authority and strength, not submission and weakness.”
That was just what Bruce needed to hear; not only was his life ruined, but the fate of thousands of innocent people rested on his shoulders. At least he was pretty sure his situation couldn’t get much worse. So he straightened up and projected confidence he didn’t feel and left the brig. Shektee thought again of leaving. It would be so simple to stop resisting and shift back to her home plane, but she wouldn’t risk the wrath of the ancient.
At the other end of the corridor leading to the brig stood two soldiers in uniform. The fact that they were not in armor was the first thing Bruce noticed; the second being that they were unarmed. He knew that really didn’t matter as far as them being able to physically impose their will on him but it was unusual. They led him down a few corridors to a ladder, then to another corridor that ended in a small sleeping area for some of the crew.
All of the beds had been stripped clean except one. It had a folded sheet and blanket in the middle and a pillow with a pillowcase at one end. All the lockers were open and mostly empty. A few still had scraps of trash and other items left behind by whoever had used them last. The look of the place gave Bruce the impression that the normal occupants had been in a hurry to evacuate.
One of the guards explained that he was confined to this berthing area during their trip. He showed Bruce where the restroom and showers were. He informed him that food would be delivered and placed on one of the empty racks near the door. The crewman would knock before entering and Bruce was not to be visible while the crewman was dropping off or picking up his meals. Bruce tried to ask him a few questions but the soldier ignored him. When he was done, he told Bruce that Captain Remington would arrive shortly to answer his questions.
It was the way the guard closed the compartment door and the sound of the door’s lock sliding into place that put it all together for Bruce. He was in a prison cell. It may be bigger than in the brig but it was still a cell. Bruce let out a sigh of resignation as he went back to his bunk. He had no idea where they were going, but it was clear he was going with them.
A while later Bruce heard a knock at the door before it opened. Captain Remington stepped in carrying a tray with what Bruce guessed was his dinner. Bruce had found the recreation area of the compartment with a few tables and chairs set up near a vid screen. The vid screen wasn’t working and Bruce had no idea where the controls were. Captain Remington brought the tray of food to the table Bruce was sitting at.
“I expect you are hungry. Once you’ve eaten, we can talk about what’s going to happen.”
Bruce hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he saw the food. It was a simple meal of meat and mashed potatoes covered in gravy but it smelled good. Grabbing the fork, he shoveled a mound of mashed potatoes into his mouth. Bruce tried to ignore Remington and to not think about his situation while he ate. He did enjoy his meal. When he was done and finally set his fork down, he looked up at Captain Remington.
“You do realize that she could’ve taken Mystique and killed your entire crew if she’d wanted to?”
“I don’t know about that. She may have done some damage and gotten a few people killed, but we have a number of ways of killing her while she’s in that cell. I am sure one of them will work.”
“Getting out of the cell would’ve taken all of one command. Instead of telling you to leave, she commands you to release her. I’m sure you have the codes to open any cell on this ship. Oh, and once you’d opened her cell and let her out, your next job will be to kill everyone she isn’t controlling. But that isn’t the point.”
“So what is the point?” Remington asked, allowing a little of his irritation to creep into his voice.
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