Chutes & Ladders (Prosperous Book 1)

by A. Rhea King

  “What?” Amanda asked, surprised she could find her voice to ask

  “When we sink our teeth into something, we don’t let go!”

  Reuben turned to another console. “Targeted acquired. Hold course, Aris.”

  “Run, run. Where you runnin’ to, l’sha’ket?” Aris asked the ship.

  On the screen a torpedo shot out of Prosperous, bearing down on the running ship. The ship fired at the missile and missed. The projectile suddenly burst open, sending out twelve small missiles. A burst of light exploded from them, and a grid quickly formed around the ship. It emitted a targeted EMP burst that only disabled the engines and weapons. Aris stopped Prosperous over it, smiling proudly.

  “We have it in a dampening grid,” Reuben said. “It’s not going anywhere, ma’am.”

  “Hold our position, Aris. Reuben, defend both ships.”

  Aris’ face smoothed and returned to the puppy face it had been. She sat back in her chair, examining her fingernails.

  On screen they watched the remaining Terallian ships retreat into open space, and like exploding stars, they winked brightly as they leaped between dimensions.

  “They couldn’t have recharged hyper cells that fast,” Aris said, sitting up.

  “I’m sure there’s a lot of things about Terallian ships we don’t know about anymore, Aris,” Amanda commented.

  “I want a ship that can make a dimensional reposition that fast!” Aris whined, ending with a pitiful whimper.

  Amanda smiled but didn’t try to console her. It would only open the floor for her to whine more.

  “Amanda,” Jackie said, “Captain Jerkoff wants to talk to you again. I’ll hit the ignore call button, okeydokey?”

  “No.” Amanda sighed. “On screen.”

  Captain Lewis reappeared on the screen. “We’ll take over that ship. Transport your prisoners to me.”

  “I gratefully relinquish the ship to you, sir. We didn’t take any prisoners from it.”

  “I meant the two you picked up.”

  Amanda rose to her feet. How did he know there were two?

  “Two… Sir?”

  “Transport those Jit to me, Amanda.”

  How did he know that there were two creatures onboard called Jit? “I’m afraid I don’t know who or what you’re referring to, sir.”

  He sprung to his feet, storming up to the video node. His face took up the entire screen, and every hair and pockmark on his face could be clearly seen.

  “You will transport those Jit to me now, Amanda!”

  Amanda pulled herself to full height. “Reuben, release the ship to Captain Lewis. Aris, we have cargo due at the port. Take us in. And Jackie, end transmission.”

  Jackie tapped a button with a gleeful smirk.

  Amanda sat down.

  “How’d he know we had two of them? Hmm?” Jackie asked. “Or what they were called? Sounds to me like Captain Lewis has a little illegal side work going on. You should report that too—”

  “Jackie, shut up!” Amanda snapped. “He wants those prisoners, and he will be waiting as soon as the airlock opens.”

  “So don’t let him in when he comes a knockin’.”

  “It’s not that simple. Maybe you should have paid closer attention in your protocol and etiquette classes, Rhoades.” Amanda stood. “What airlock are we docking to, Aris?”

  “B-2. We’ll be docked in five minutes, ma’am.”

  Amanda walked to the lift, tapping a button.

  “You’re going to confront him alone?” Jackie asked.

  Amanda stepped onto the lift without a word. She had to. Tru would expect that of her, wouldn’t he?

  Q’al pulled his surgical gloves off, leaning against the bathroom counter. He looked in the mirror over the sink, seeing spots of Tru’s blood on his face. He dropped his gloves in a biohazard canister and then pulled a wipe from the dispenser next to it. He looked up, watching the blood melt away with each wipe. The door opened, and Nurse Henrich stuck his head in.

  “We have the Captain in a room, Doctor Q’al. He still isn’t stable.”

  “Do we have enough blood?”

  “For now. We’ll need to restock A negative as soon as we can, Doctor.”

  Q’al nodded, wiping the last drop off his face. “Check his vitals every ten minutes.”

  Henrich started to leave but came back. “Do you think we won the battle?”

  Q’al smiled. “Ask Gracie. I’m sure she can tell you.”

  The nurse left.

  Q’al watched the door reform before asking, “Did we win, Gracie?”

  We captured one vessel. Three Merchant Raitor and three Terallian vessels were lost in the battle. The remaining Terallian vessels have retreated. We are now being processed for docking.

  Q’al nodded. “Tru will be pleased to hear that.”

  He will be all right, won’t he?

  Q’al looked at the floor. The truth was he didn’t know. Tru had made it through surgery, but that was just one hurdle. Now came the harder part; making it through recovery with cloned organs and regenerate tissues and skin. Q’al had lost several patients when their body rejected cloned organs, skins, or tissue. He wouldn’t feel comfortable until Tru was at least a month out from surgery.

  “Yes.”

  You don’t lie well, Doctor Q’al.

  Q’al nodded. “You’re just too smart for me, Gracie.” He dropped the wipe in the biohazard container. “As soon as Amanda is available, tell her I need to speak with her.”

  Yes, Doctor.

  Q’al left the bathroom.

  Chapter 30

  CAPTAIN LEWIS AND FOUR ARMED GUARDS WERE WAITING WHEN THE AIRLOCK OPENED. Amanda almost ran from them, but she was the First Executive Officer, and Captain Lewis wasn’t going to take the prisoners. She was convinced that Tru wouldn’t want her to back down from this.

  “You are not taking the prisoners from this ship,” Amanda informed him.

  “The hell I’m not. Get out of our way, Amanda.”

  “It is XO Wrigley, sir, and if you remove the prisoners, you will be acting against Merchant Raitor regulations. Captain Barnett has the right to interrogate our prisoners before relinquishing—”

  Captain Lewis grabbed her arms and slammed her against the wall. He wrapped his hand around her throat, his black eyes glaring into her frightened blue ones. Amanda panicked, dropping her reassurance. He looked down when the pebble hit his shoe and then kicked it away with a sneer.

  “Were you going to bludgeon me with a pebble, Wrigley?”

  Amanda started to cry, trying to pry his painful grip on her throat.

  “You’re hurting me,” she whimpered.

  “I am taking them, and you aren’t stopping me.”

  Captain Lewis let her go only to slap her so hard it knocked her off her feet. He walked away, trailed by his guards.

  “Computer, tell me how to get to the Brig,” Captain Lewis ordered

  “Belay that order, Gracie,” Amanda said.

  She got back to her feet, watching Captain Lewis turn. She wanted to run, but Tru would be disappointed in her if she let Captain Lewis get away with this.

  “I don’t need a computer. I’ll find an honorable crewman that will take me there,” Lewis told her.

  He walked around the corner, leaving Amanda trembling in the middle of the hall.

  “Gracie…” Amanda looked down, ashamed of the hot tears running down her face.

  Just tell me what you want me to do, Amanda. With Tru incapacitated, I am your ship.

  Amanda looked up at a video node. “Delay him, and I need Kar’esh, Zalet, and Jackie in the Brig immediately. Transport me there now.”

  Amanda disappeared from where she stood.

  Captain Lewis entered the Brig and stopped. Jackie, Zalet, all of the ship’s security guards, and their Merchant Raitor Union Rep, Kar’esh, blocked his way. Amanda stood in front of them, her thumbs hooked in the belt loops of her pants. A bruise darkened her skin where he’d
slapped her and squeezed her throat. The defiant look on her face only mildly surprised Captain Lewis; after all, she had backup now. It didn’t change his plans. He wasn’t letting a million qubits slip through his fingers.

  He motioned his security guards to stop and approached Amanda.

  “Are these aliens worth your career, Wrigley?”

  Amanda let her head drop to the right just slightly, but it was an action that he’d never seen her do and one that hinted she wasn’t quite the same woman he’d smacked around when she served on his ship. But he didn’t believe she was that strong. No one could get past the kind of problems this woman had in ten months.

  “Have you met our union rep?” she motioned to Kar’esh. “Representative Kar’esh?” She stood her full height, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’d like to inform you of a few regulations you’re violating.”

  “Captain Lewis,” Kar’esh began, “while a captain is incapacitated, his First Executive Officer is of equal authority to any captain on his or her ship. Additionally, striking a fellow officer obeying orders and regulations is an offense that carries a minimum of ten days in a Brig. And, Under Merchant Raitor regulations, a captain has the right to interrogate prisoners he has captured, and if they are still imprisoned fourteen days after their arrest, they are to be turned over to Merchant Raitor Patrolmen, not another Captain. This right extends to the XO while the captain is incapacitated.”

  Lewis laughed with contempt. “You can’t be serious! All this for two lousy prisoners? Wrigley, have you finally lost your mind?”

  “I have never been so clear headed.”

  Lewis walked up to Kar’esh, holding his gaze. “Your XO isn’t capable of commanding any ship in this fleet, Kar’esh. She has a disorder—”

  “According to the report you filed, in which you recommended Amanda Wrigley to be promoted to First Executive Officer, she had no disorder,” Kar’esh pointed out. “If you wish to press the matter about a disorder, which you failed to report, it would mean I’ll have to issue a request for an investigation into your other reports as well your financial records to verify you haven’t been receiving bribes for promotions. I suspect, from this conversation, that pressing this issue would likely end poorly for you. With all that in mind, do you wish to officially request First Executive Officer Wrigley be investigated for an undisclosed disorder, Captain Lewis?”

  Lewis turned his glare back to Amanda. “Let’s talk, Wrigley. You and me.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “In private.”

  “Captain Lewis, due to your last outburst, I refuse to be alone with you. If you have something to say, you will have to say it here in front of my security team and a union rep.”

  Lewis smirked. “You’ll wish you never did this, Wrigley.”

  “I’ll add your threat to my report of this incident, Captain Lewis,” Kar’esh said.

  “Captain Lewis and his guards are leaving, Gracie,” Amanda told the Oadagan. “Please transport them off of Prosperous,” Amanda ordered.

  Twenty meters off spaceport, XO? Gracie asked.

  Amanda smiled. “No. Onto the spaceport promenade deck.”

  Gracie obeyed, but then jokingly whined, Why couldn’t I transport him into space?

  Amanda smiled. “While your opinion is noted, I think people would notice his absence. Jackie, I want you to get to know the prisoners and add their language to Gracie’s translator. I need to talk to them.”

  “Talk?” Jackie asked.

  “Yes, talk. A foreign concept to you, I’m sure.”

  Jackie’s eyes narrowed. Amanda flashed her a smug grin.

  XO, Doctor Q’al needs you in the Infirmary as soon as you’re available.

  “Transport me there. And thank you for your assistance, Kar’esh.”

  Amanda was transported out of the Brig, and Kar’esh left.

  “Return to your posts,” Zalet ordered his guards. “If you need anything, Ensign Rhoades, let me know.”

  “Whatever.” Jackie walked over to the cell, smiling at the two Jit inside. She tapped the COM outside and started speaking with the male.

  Zalet smiled when he realized Jackie hadn’t told Amanda she already knew the Jit’s language. Most certainly it was to annoy the XO. For now, things were back to normal aboard Prosperous.

  His smile faded as he regaled the dozens of future he saw when he closed his eyes to meditate. Soon things would be anything but normal. Soon the paths of Gracie, Jackie, Emperor Lixu’s son, Amidien, and Captain Barnett would cross, and the future of galaxies, perhaps even the universe, would hang in the balance of their meetings.

  Chapter 31

  JANUARY 2661

  “EASY, CAPTAIN BARNETT,” A DISTANT VOICE SAID. “GO BACK TO SLEEP.”

  Tru opened his eyes, seeing Q’al moving away. His head felt heavy, but his body felt like it was floating. He felt pain but he wasn’t sure if it was in one location or spread across his body. He was too disoriented to tell much more than where he was – in the Prosperous infirmary with Doctor Q’al.

  He tried to speak and found his mouth was dry. He licked his lips and tried again. “Doc,” Tru whispered.

  Q’al came back into view. He smiled as he leaned closer.

  “You know I don’t like being called Doc, Captain.”

  “Sorry.”

  Q’al patted his shoulder. “All in good humor.”

  Tru slowly glued fractured memories back together in his mind.

  “The creature that bit me… She didn’t mean it. She thought I killed her father.”

  Q’al was surprised, but only briefly. He smiled. “You had a premonition before you were bitten, I assume?”

  Tru barely nodded. “Her name is Navta. I heard it in the premonition, I think. I—”

  “Captain, you need to stop talking. You’re still quite weak.”

  “They can’t be charged.”

  “Neither Amanda nor Exum Zalet felt the two should be charged with anything. They have released them.”

  “That was fast. I—”

  “Sir, it has been three weeks since you were bitten. Your Christmas and New Year holidays have come and gone, and Gracie, Zalet, and your XO have everything under control. You need to rest and give this brand new arm, heart and lung I put in you time to heal. They’re not even ready for a casual jog yet. Okay?”

  He barely nodded. “It hurts. I hurt.”

  He heard Q’al move near him and the pain started to slide away, taking his consciousness with it.

  “Does that should help?” Q’al asked

  Tru was asleep already.

  Amanda watched Tru sleep, but she felt Q’al’s eyes on her. She touched her throat where a faint bruise reminded her of Captain Lewis’ attacking her several weeks ago. She met Q’al’s gaze.

  “Why are you staring at me?” Amanda asked.

  “I’ve never seen you so concerned about someone.”

  “This ship and crew need their captain. How long before he’s out of here and back on duty?”

  “Asking me that every day isn’t changing my answer, Amanda.”

  Amanda let out an exasperated breath. “I can’t wait two to three weeks, Q’al! I have been barely holding this ship together for the last two! I can’t—”

  Q’al slid his arm around her shoulders and guided her out of the monitored care room and toward the Infirmary waiting room.

  “And you are doing an excellent job at that, Amanda. You will continue doing an excellent job.”

  She pulled back, looking at Tru. He was not the immortal she’d built him up to be in her mind. Amanda looked back at Q’al when he gave her arms a gentle squeeze.

  “Q’al, the Terallians declared war, and we’re supposed to go on this archeology dig that is practically in their back yard. I’m scared. What if—”

  “Didn’t Captain Barnett tell you to do something when you started stressing?”

  Amanda looked down.

  “Tell me again. What was it h
e told you?”

  Amanda reached in her hip pocket and pulled out the stone. She pressed her finger into the groove.

  “To hold this rock and recite a phrase until things got better.”

  “Then do it and stop worrying. You have the respect of the crew and you have Gracie helping out. She’s been very helpful, hasn’t she?”

  Amanda nodded.

  I can’t hear you, XO! Gracie sang.

  A faint smile came to her lips. “I said yes, Gracie.”

  There was a soft chuckle over the COM speaker. Q’al put his arms around Amanda’s shoulders, walking her toward the Infirmary doors.

  “Our captain is the first real friend you’ve had in a while,” Q’al said.

  Amanda laid her head on his shoulder. “Beside you, yes.”

  And me? Gracie asked.

  She laughed. “Yes, and you, Gracie.”

  “I get the pleasure of being called your friend?” Q’al asked.

  “Yes.” Amanda laughed.

  “Then, as your friend, I suggest we go order ourselves some hot tea, and you can vent about what Jackie did earlier that got you so riled up.”

  Amanda laughed, nodding. “I’ll have lots of Jackie complaints when he comes to!”

  “I’m sure, but be sure to tell him first how his First Executive Officer stood up to a horrid captain and saved his beloved ship from the Terallians. And how she convinced his crew to save their lives and when we pulled into the spaceport, even managed to persuade most of the original crew to stay on for the archeology expedition. I’m sure he’d like to hear about that from the horse’s mouth, as you humans put it.”

  XO, you need to go to cargo bay six. The Cargo Chief says some of the equipment being loaded is unnecessary for an archeological dig. I think you’d better intervene.

  “Raincheck?” Amanda asked Q’al.

  “Of course.”

  “Gracie,” Amanda said and was transported right out of his hold.

  “Doctor Q’al,” Doctor Lareshth said as she approached.

  “Yes?”

  “Captain Barnett is going into another premonition. You should—”

  “Sedate him.”