Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1)

by Stormy McKnight

  She didn’t hesitate any longer. She ran through the gate and took a second to get her bearings. Her parents’ estate was on the outskirts of the main community of Regency City. Which wasn’t really a city, it was actually rural in nature, with a population of about fifteen thousand citizens. The city had been founded as a vacation destination or getaway for the politicians and power brokers of Thalesti. There wasn’t a whole lot of options when choosing which way to go. Deciding on a destination, Cali took off at a run down the street. There was one person she knew would help her. The last place her mother would think she would turn for help. Vathral Dax.

  Chapter Three

  The look on Vathral’s face almost made the whole ordeal worth it. She wished she could take a picture, but her mother had taken all of her communications devices. Nothing she had grabbed from her room would have a tracking chip.

  “Cali?” Vathral looked around her, “What in the world are you doing here?”

  “I’ll explain, just let me in.” Cali pushed past him and stood to the side while he closed the door.

  Vathral had obviously come from bed. He wore a robe only partially tied closed. He stood about six foot tall, which for a male on Cestori was quite tall. He had warm amber eyes, similar to hers and muddy blonde hair. They had spent breaks together as a group, so Cali had seen him in bathing trunks before and wasn’t fazed by the expanses of tanned skin and tight muscles not covered in the robe. Vathral was very good looking and fit. This whole mess would be easier if she felt anything but friendship toward him. They just didn’t have that certain spark together.

  Cali had gotten to know him since they had taken the same classes at the Academy. She and Vathral were both children of Council members, so had gravitated toward each other. They’d both dreamed of space travel and being captains of their own ships one day. Being the offspring of council members assured that the dream would be a reality. It wasn’t something they bragged about, it was just how things worked on Cestori. Even though Vathral was a son, the woman chosen for him might bear him a daughter. That daughter would go on to sit on the council one day. If Vathral and Diandra were to be allowed life-partnership, their union could potentially be as powerful as her mother feared.

  “Follow me into the den.” Vathral motioned toward a room on the left. “Please excuse the mess. The Apoxis is set to depart soon and I haven’t had time to transfer all my belongings to my home in Thalesti. You are lucky to have caught me here at all, I was leaving tomorrow for the city.”

  “I know I already said it, but you know I’m happy for you. The Apoxis is lucky to have you for the captain.” Cali grabbed a blanket off a chair and wrapped her suddenly chilled body into its warmth.

  “As The Reliant is lucky to have you. Are you going to tell me what has you showing up on my doorstep, frozen solid, at this time of morning?” Vathral pushed a button and the fireplace burst into life. After adjusting the settings, he settled his large frame onto the couch across from her and waited.

  “Where is Diandra?” Cali sat straighter in her seat. “Is she here?”

  “No. She went ahead to Thalesti a few days ago. She had to report for duty on The Reliant since you are scheduled to depart.” Vathral’s brow furrowed and he sat forward. “What’s going on Cali? You should be in Thalesti as well.”

  “My mother found out you petitioned for life-partnership with Diandra.” Cali tucked the blanket tighter. “She doesn’t care how you feel, she’s only worried about the political backlash.”

  “I should’ve known your mother would step in.” Vathral’s face had turned ashen and he rubbed his temples. “I got so caught up in the excitement of graduation, and being assigned to captain The Apoxis. I wanted Diandra to share in the moment and begin our lives as an official couple. I wasn’t thinking about the political ramifications.”

  “It gets worse,” Cali cautioned him. “My mother is working with yours to force us into a life-partnership. She canceled my placement as captain of The Reliant, escorted me off the transport to Thalesti and brought me here to Regency City. After telling me her decision, she had me escorted by guards to my room.”

  Vathral’s eyes widened and Cali heard his teeth clack together. After a moment he composed himself. “I haven’t heard any news about you being taken off The Reliant, but it’s still early and could make the rounds today. This is an interesting development.” His eyes swept over her tucked into the blanket, “That explains your appearance and the timing of your arrival at my doorstep. How did you get away?”

  Cali smiled, “I jumped out of my bedroom window.”

  “By the old gods Cali! How could you do something so dangerous?” Vathral staggered to his feet and then sat back down. “You could’ve been killed.”

  “I had to do something,” Cali snapped. “Would you prefer to be having our commitment ceremony?”

  “I would’ve come up with something that didn’t involve you courting death.” Vathral looked at her.

  “I refuse to let my mother dictate my life.” Cali shrugged, “I’m doing this for you and Diandra too. If I’m out of the way long enough, you’ll be able to figure out a way to be together.”

  Cali could feel her body absorbing the heat from the fire. It felt good to feel safe, even if it was only for a moment.

  “So, we need to find a way to get you away from your mother for…how much time are we looking at?”

  “I’m not an expert on politics and life-partnership, but six months to a year? That should be enough time to thwart her plans.”

  “Six months to a year? That’s a long time to be on the run on Cestori.” Vathral rubbed his chin and muttered, “Do you have any ideas?”

  “I have one, my father left me a holo that started me thinking of a plan. I don’t think you’re going to like it, though.” Cali responded. “For starters, we need Vareen, but nobody else can know where I am.”

  “I think she’s in Thalesti. She may have traveled with Diandra and Nellia since they are assigned to The Reliant as well.”

  That didn’t surprise Cali. Their group was still tight knit and loyal even after graduation. “Okay. We need to get to Thalesti.” Cali was feverishly working details in her mind.

  “I don’t like the gleam in your eyes, Cali.” Vathral eyed her suspiciously, “That’s the same look you got at the Academy when you were about to get us all into trouble.”

  “I never got you into trouble,” Cali protested. “Name one time!” Her face ached from trying not to smile.

  “How about the time we papered the campus with all those forbidden romance pamphlets.” Vathral accused with laughter in his voice, “Or the time you convinced Vareen to hack into the computer systems and changed the orientation handout from Five Commandments of Logical Living to the Five Feelings for Content Living.”

  “I never—” Cali couldn’t continue the lie, then she started laughing with Vathral. “O-okay. That one almost got us expelled.”

  “Oh, there were a lot of times we almost got expelled.” Vathral wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes.

  “You’re right.” Cali was unrepentant. “But if anyone asked, I would do it the same all over again.”

  “I would too,” Vathral vowed happily. “I wouldn’t change a moment of our time at the Academy.”

  Cali swallowed at the sudden lump in her throat, “Why couldn’t it be you and I who wanted to be life-partners? It would make everything so much simpler.”

  “It wasn’t meant to be us, Cali.” Vathral stood up and grabbed her hands. “We need to get you to Thalesti. I’ll get dressed and then you can tell me your plan as I drive. The auto ticket machines will catch me, and it’ll cost me quite a few money units, but if I break the speed laws we can be there in a few hours.”

  Chapter Four

  Cali looked at the soldiers standing at attention in front of them. This was one of the numerous points where their plan could fall apart.

  With Vathral’s help, Cali had arrived here in Thalesti four hours a
fter jumping out her bedroom window. It had taken Vathral, Vareen, and her, less than one day to meet, come up with a plan and implement it. If Cali took the time to think about their cockeyed idea, she would chicken out, so it was a good thing they didn’t have time.

  Only the three of them were in on what would take place next. Her other friends they left in the dark, figuring the fewer people who knew what they were doing the better. At any rate, her mother would hopefully still be clueless to her disappearance. If she did know Cali was gone, hopefully, Aicen would not suspect she had made it this far yet and would be looking in Regency City.

  The good luck they were having was astronomical. For starters, after graduation and during placement, she had used her influence to help her friends find assignments together. Cali knew all of the officers of The Reliant and most of the crew. Which was a good thing because she was going to hijack it, not that the crew would suspect they were being pirated. Even though a change in captain had been announced, she was Aicen Edal’s daughter. Who would suspect her? When she ordered no off ship communication, saying it was part of the mission, nobody would question her. Since her second in command would be Vareen, and she was a whiz with technology, nobody would be getting information on to or off of The Reliant that she didn’t want to be sent.

  Second, all of the crew had been ordered to be onboard by this afternoon. That would mean only a handful of positions would be potentially unfilled.

  Third, The Reliant itself. The most advanced ship ever built on Cestori. A rounded wing design, with six levels. On level one, or the command deck was the bridge and officer crew quarters. Level two, or the medical deck, contained additional crew quarters and the medical units. On level three, or the security deck, were holding cells and additional crew quarters. Level four, or the transporting deck, contained the most crew quarters, the recreational rooms and the transporting equipment. Level five, or the engineering deck, housed all the equipment for the CD drive, or caterpillar drive and quarters for the engineering crew. Finally, level six, or docking level, held the bays for their shuttle craft, and open bays for docking visiting craft. There were no extra crew quarters on this deck due to the size of the bays. Each deck had four lifts, located at the bow, stern, port, and starboard. These were accessible by hallways connecting the different areas of the ship to each other.

  A masterpiece of Cestori engineering, The Reliant’s food, water and energy systems could be operated on minimal supplies. It could outrun any vessel they knew of, be operated by a skeletal crew, and had weaponry for defense. It was perfect for her escape into space.

  So here she was, walking toward the entrance gate to the space dock. This phase of the plan called for Cali to follow Vareen through security.

  “Don’t fidget like that,” Vareen muttered. “You’re going to get us caught.”

  “I look ridiculous,” Cali hissed, then quickly shut her mouth and continued toward the gate with her friend.

  “You don’t look ridiculous,” Vareen argued. “You look fine.”

  “This hat looks absurd with my hair tucked into it.” Regulations stated all male placements were to have hair no longer than their ears. All female placements were to keep their hair in a tight bun or cut to be no longer than their shoulders. Cali had adamantly refused to cut her hair short, so rolled and hidden under her cap was the best they could do.

  “Not to mention the uniform Vathral got for me is too big. I look like I’m swimming in it.” Her friend couldn’t argue with her. The brown jumpsuit signifying her rank as an ensign was large on her slight frame.

  “He had to get a larger size, or your breasts would be obvious,” Vareen grumbled at her. “Even with them taped down, it’ll be close.”

  “They aren’t that big.” Cali hissed back. Her breasts were rather large for her small frame and she had considered getting them reduced many times. Her mother had certainly encouraged her to have the operation. Something held her back from going through with it every time she had scheduled the procedure. In the end, she had given up on changing her body. She was happy with the way she looked.

  “We’re there, talk as little as possible. Your voice is enough to give you away.”

  Flexing her fingers nervously, Cali prepared to run if this didn’t work. Not that she would get far. Both of the men guarding this area of the space shuttle docking bays were tall and fit looking. If she had to run, they would outpace her rather quickly. Not to mention the commotion would draw the attention of any number of other military personnel.

  “Papers.” One of the guards asked for Vareen’s documents and Cali moved to the other guard to hand him hers. Vathral knew a guy, who knew a guy and a few thousand money units later, she had her assignment papers. Since they needed them so quickly, she had paid an exorbitant amount of money units for them.

  “Thank you, Officer Nas.” The other guard had taken a glance at Vareen’s papers, scanned them for authenticity, and waved her inside the gate.

  Cali dared a peek up at the guard examining her papers. He swiped them through the reader again and frowned. “What is your name?”

  “Ensign Fourth Class Trol Nep.” Cali struggled to get her voice lower.

  “What is your assignment?” He eyed her suspiciously. Cali panicked. This wasn’t going to work. She had practiced lowering her voice, but nerves were making it crack and squeak.

  “I’m on the maintenance crew,” Vathral had requested an obscure assignment for her alias. One that wouldn’t cause too much of a security issue. She couldn’t use her real name at this gate, it would be entered into the system, and her mother would know she was here immediately.

  Eyeing her more closely the guard turned to push a button. Maybe her voice gave her away, or her posture. He wasn’t buying her story.

  “Is there a problem?” Vareen came to her rescue.

  Both guards turned to her and saluted. The male holding her papers then replied, “This ensign’s papers are older and the system has marked them for investigation.”

  “I see.” Vareen stood taller and tucked her hands behind her back. “I happen to know this poor fellow’s story. As the second in command, it’s my duty to know my crew. It’s tragic really. You mustn’t tell anyone.” Leaning toward them Vareen whispered conspiratorially, “Ensign Nep was just released from medical.” Vareen looked around as if to check they weren’t overheard, “He has…heloxi. That is why the documents are outdated. Receiving treatment for so long you know. Just look at the uniform. He’s lost half his body weight. I will personally vouch for him.”

  Both guards turned horrified looks on her. The guard that had helped Vareen backed as far away from her as he could get and still remain at his station.

  “I see.” The guard with her papers swallowed hard. Stamped her documents and returned them with the tips of his fingers barely holding the paper. “Proceed.” Done with helping her, this guard also moved as far away as he could get.

  “Thank you.” Cali waited until she had walked a fair distance with Vareen before the chuckling started. “Heloxi? That’s what you come up with?” her tittering got louder. “The worst infectious disease on Cestori?”

  Vareen was trying to hold in her laughter as well. Nodding to crew as they passed, she walked faster. Cali was almost running to keep up. They made it to the transport dock and stopped at a private room for Officers only. Vareen looked inside and then pulled her in. “It’s empty.”

  When the doors closed, Cali couldn’t stop the laughter from bursting out of her. Vareen was red-faced too and soon both of them were holding their sides.

  “Did you s-see his f-face,” Cali gasped. “I t-thought he was going to d-die right t-there.”

  “I k-know.” Vareen waved her hands at Cali, “We h-have to pull it t-together.” She looked around and motioned for Cali to move further away from the door.

  Cali knew Vareen was right. They were still in danger of getting caught. Until they were onboard The Reliant, and away from Cestori, her mother could fin
d her. That thought sobered her and she took deep gasping breaths until she gathered herself.

  “Okay,” Cali whispered. “We need to move onto the next part of the plan.”

  Since the fleet was kept in low orbit, it would require a shuttle transfer to get them onboard. Vareen squared her shoulders and strode to the communicator located on the wall. Cali could hear her talking in low whispers and then she was striding back.

  “There is a shuttle picking up crew for The Reliant right now. I reserved seats for us. I guess we got lucky again.” Vareen went and peered out the door. “I can see it from here. As soon as the others board, we can leave this room and board as well.”

  Cali knew this would be the end of her friend’s career, or worse if her mother caught them. When Vareen turned, Cali ran and threw her arms around her. “Vareen, you’re the best!”

  Her friend hugged her closer and Cali wanted to cry at the risk her friend was taking. “Words can’t express how much—”

  “Sorry to, ahh, interrupt Officer Nas.” A throaty coughing reached them from the doorway. “I was informed you would be on the shuttle, with an Ensign Nep.”

  Vareen opened her mouth to say something then snapped it shut, dropping her arms from around Cali. To anyone looking in, it would appear as if her friend was hugging a small male. She started shaking with suppressed amusement again. The crewmember obviously thought he was interrupting a lover’s tryst with her.

  “I’m coming.” Vareen sounded gruff, but Cali knew it was from holding in laughter, not anger.

  The door closed again as the shuttle pilot moved away.

  “It is so f-funny,” Cali was back to holding her side. “Being c-caught in your lover’s embrace.”

  “This is going to be one of those days isn’t it?” Vareen rubbed her temples with her fingertips. “We have to hurry.”

  Cali wiped her eyes and sobered instantly. “I’m sorry Vareen. It must be the adrenaline and worry causing me to laugh at the slightest thing. You’re right, let’s go.”