Alone in Paradise (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 2)

by Patrick Stutzman

  After flying for several more minutes, Ahmad reached the clearing where Anna’s ship had crashed. The dozen or so drones that flittered about the area seemed to pay him no mind as he landed the cycle behind the vessel’s engines and dismounted. He rounded the corner and walked along the starboard side toward the nose of the ship, watching the drones’ activity as he moved. Surprised to find them farming and tending the land, he shook his head in disbelief, shocked and impressed with the resourcefulness of their prisoner.

  Ahmad reached the front of the ship and climbed up to the dorsal hatch, pausing when he spotted the keypad lock. He knelt next to it and punched in a random code, confirming its operation when the red bar appeared above the buttons.

  Whipping out the communicator from his belt, Ahmad opened a channel. “Resolute, this is Ahmad. Get me the captain.”

  Seconds later, James’s voice came through the communicator. “What is it, Ahmad?”

  “The ship has a keypad lock on the top hatch. I need the passcode.”

  “Understood. I’ll call you back.”

  * * * * *

  Back on the ship, James marched off the bridge and went straight to Anna’s room. The door whisked open and he strode in, a grim look on his face that turned to surprise upon seeing her sitting up and rubbing her red, swollen wrists.

  He lunged forward, giving Anna barely enough time to flinch as he backhanded her across the face. She dropped to the mattress with a stifled wail.

  “How did you get loose?”

  When Anna only answered with a muffled whimper, James grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up. She screamed in pain as he did.

  “Give me the code to your ship.” James brought his face a few centimeters from hers.

  Anna raked her fingernails across his face near his mouth. “Fuck you!”

  The captain pulled back and punched her in the gut. She collapsed onto the bed when he released her hair, groaning in agony.

  “Give me the code!”

  “Go to hell.” Her defiant response came with a painful moan.

  Feeling a sting of pain coming from his lip, James touched his fingertip to it and looked at the drops of blood that coated it. The sight set the fire in his eyes ablaze. He grabbed her by the hair, slugged her across the jaw, and threw her onto the bed again.

  “Now!”

  * * * * *

  Robert, Paco, Michel, and Hiraku loitered outside Anna’s door, listening to the tirade on the other side.

  Paco cringed as the sound of her being hit again reverberated through the wall. He whispered his plea to her. “Answer him.”

  Anna’s scream pierced the metal wall, causing both Paco and Hiraku to flinch.

  Michel looked at Robert. “Is he going to kill her, too?”

  Robert shook his head. “Dunno. Maybe.”

  “She’ll make the fourth girl he’s killed like this. Why does he do this?”

  Hiraku said, “Mommy issues?”

  As everyone else looked at him, some with curiosity and others with annoyance, he shrugged. “Makes sense to me.”

  The sounds of violence came to an abrupt stop, and all eyes turned back to the door. Paco turned pale as he feared the worst. Michel shook his head again.

  Suddenly the door opened and James stepped out, stopping in the doorway while he stared at the four men waiting outside. He waited several seconds in silence. “Who wants her?”

  Michel and Robert quickly raised their hands, earning a nod from the captain.

  “She’s all yours, Michel.” James marching down the hall.

  As Michel dashed toward the doorway, Robert shifted his gaze between him and James. “Wha’? Michel, you bloomin’ wankstain.”

  Paco stepped after Michel, his hand outstretched. “Michel, don’t do this. She’s just been beat up.”

  Before anyone else could object, the door slid shut.

  * * * * *

  Turning around to face the bed, Michel paused as he took in what his captain had done. Anna was still alive, but had been severely battered. She lay crumpled on the bed over her knees, wearing only her white T-shirt. Her face was red from being slapped multiple times, and a bruise was already forming on her jaw.

  Michel watched her try to curl herself up into a fetal position.

  Shaking his head again, Michel muttered to nobody in particular, “Why does he do this?”

  A few seconds later, he walked toward her.

  * * * * *

  Ahmad keyed in the code he just heard from the captain, and the hatch slid open without a problem.

  “That worked, captain,” he said through the communicator. “Anything else I should know?”

  “Nothing I am aware of. Hope you find some useful stuff in there.”

  “Will do. Ahmad out.”

  He closed the channel and returned the communicator to his belt before climbing into the airlock. As his feet touched the floor of the airlock, the upper hatch closed, plunging the cramped room into darkness.

  “Hello.” A female voice with a British accent greeted him through the airlock door. “Who are you?”

  “Uh, I am Ahmad. I didn’t know anyone was here.”

  “Hello, Ahmad. I am here. Why are you here?”

  He leaned toward the source of the voice. “Who are you?”

  “I am the one asking questions right now, Ahmad. Why are you here?”

  “Angelina sent me to pick up some supplies.”

  “Angelina?”

  He nodded. “Yes, the owner of this ship?”

  The woman’s voice did not respond for a few seconds. “Oh, right! Angelina. Yeah. What supplies did she want you to pick up?”

  “Um…she needed…her toiletries. Yeah! Her shampoo and conditioner, stuff like that.”

  Ahmad felt pretty good about coming up with an answer so quickly, especially since he knew he couldn’t lie very well.

  “I see. May I have the password, please?”

  “Password?” His happy expression melted away. “Um…”

  “You have ten seconds to give the password.”

  “Or what?”

  “You’re wasting time.”

  “Um…um…” Ahmad couldn’t come up with an answer. After several seconds had passed, he lowered his head. “Uh…please?”

  “I’m sorry. That is incorrect.”

  “So, what’s going to happen?”

  “I regret to inform you that I am not letting you in.”

  Ahmad relaxed his posture. “I kind of figured that.”

  “I’m not letting you out, either.”

  He blinked a few times in silence. “What?”

  “You’d might as well settle in, because you’re not going anywhere.”

  Chapter 23

  “Why hasn’t anyone thought of removing the captain from command?” Paco asked quietly while he, Robert, and Hikaru walked down the boarding ramp outside.

  “Oh, they ‘ave, Paco. You can bet on that.”

  Paco scrunched his eyebrows downward. “What happened?”

  Hikaru waved his hands while he walked. “The mutiny died real quick. The captain got wind of it, killed the ringleader in front of the rest of the crew, and stuffed his corpse into the nearest airlock. It wasn’t pretty, either.”

  “Yeah.” Robert flashed a gruesome smile. “’e gave ‘im a necktie, if ya ge’ my meanin’.” He mimicked the action with his thumb.

  Paco shuddered.

  “Yeah, ‘e’s a bi’ on the crazy side, but ‘e’s one damn good pirate. Best loot we ever got was under ‘is command.”

  “Speaking of which,” Hikaru said. “We need to get this latest batch offloaded and secured soon if we’re going to take off again without earning the captain’s wrath. He’s already on edge as it is.”

  Paco paused after grabbing a handhold to climb into a cargo walker. “He does seem a bit more irritable these days. Why is that?”

  “Dunno. Don’ get paid to care.”

  “Well, Dr. Takahashi, any insights?”<
br />
  Hikaru secured his seat harness inside his walker. “If you ask me, I think it’s because your girlfriend has more willpower than the others we’ve captured in the past.”

  Paco started his walker after climbing inside and put on the headset. “Do you think the captain hates her?”

  Hikaru paused for a moment. “I don’t think so. I think he just has issues with women in general. I’m not going to ask him about it. That’s a good way to get yourself killed.”

  Paco nodded with a grim expression, but said nothing.

  “You should be proud, Paco.” Hikaru said as his walker stepped forward. “You found yourself a good one. She’s managed to survive longer than the others.”

  Paco nodded. “I don’t feel proud about this, not in the least.”

  * * * * *

  On the bridge of the Resolute, James pressed the communicator button. “Ahmad, come in.”

  No response.

  “Ahmad, do you read me?”

  Still no response.

  James frowned, straining to hold back his anger. “Ahmad, are you…”

  “Yes, captain. Ahmad here.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m inside the airlock of Angelina’s ship.”

  “Why aren’t you inside the ship itself?”

  The second’s pause filled the bridge. “Because the other woman won’t let me in.”

  James’ eyes grew wide as the thought of somebody else standing in his way came to light. The last thing he wanted was another unknown variable thrown in the mix.

  He took a deep breath to calm himself. “What other woman?”

  “I don’t know. I’m stuck in the airlock.”

  James gritted his teeth. “Did you get her name?”

  “No. But, she’s British, and she’s a pain in the ass.”

  The captain took a breath, trying futilely to compose himself. “Did you bring your tools with you? Maybe you can find a panel to open and break in.”

  “Um, no. I left my tools on the bike.”

  James took several deep breaths, his nostrils flaring. “What?”

  “It won’t happen again.”

  “You’re damn right it won’t happen again. Because if it does, I will kill you myself.”

  He slapped the switch to close the channel and stormed off the bridge. A minute later, he stomped into Anna’s room and stared for a second at Michel sitting on the bed beside her, tending to the bruise on her face.

  James’s posture stiffened. “Out!”

  Michel looked back at him. “But, but captain…”

  “I said get out!!”

  Michel paused, looking between James and Anna. A couple of seconds later, James lunged for Michel. He seized him by the arm, and threw him off the bed. Michel yelped as he hit the floor.

  The captain shoved Anna against the wall and leaned into her. “Who’s the other woman?”

  Stunned from the impact, she merely moaned in pain.

  “Who’s the other woman?”

  Anna raised her head a little and looked back at him through bloodshot eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  James straightened his posture. “Really? Let me refresh your memory.”

  He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and jerked her upward against the wall. He backhanded her across the face. “The other woman holding my crewman prisoner in your ship. That other woman!”

  “Captain.” James felt Michel’s hand land on his shoulder.

  James slapped her again, splitting her lip.

  “Who is she?!”

  “Captain, you’re going to kill her!”

  He stopped his assault and looked at Michel over his shoulder. A look of insane aggression dominating his visage.

  “What good is she to you dead?”

  James’s expression hardened, as Michel’s words sank in. He turned back to Anna and threw her onto the bed. She landed in a heap, and did not stir as blood oozed from her mouth onto the dirty white sheet.

  James turned on his heel and marched from the room. “Clean her up.”

  * * * * *

  Over half an hour later, James landed the second skycycle about a dozen meters from where Ahmad had left his. Dismounting and drawing his pistol, he dashed toward the ship and braced himself against the hull, waiting for some kind of response from inside the vessel. Several seconds passed, with the only activity coming from a dozen drones going about their business around the area. One would pause every so often, look his way, and go back to its task. James raised an eyebrow as he watched them. He dismissed the thought and switched his focus back to his purpose for being there.

  After glancing around the ship and confirming the coast was clear, James sprinted to the ship’s nose and slid to a halt, staying as quiet as possible while listening for anything that sounded out of the ordinary. Satisfied he was still undetected, he crawled on his belly up the front hull to the forward windscreen and peeked in.

  Next to the pilot seat stood Kate, wearing what James recognized as the dark green uniform of the British Star Fleet. She held a pistol in one hand as she entered a series of commands into the holographic keyboard floating between her and the window with the other. With her brown hair tied back in a bun, she looked every part the highly trained and efficient naval officer.

  James dropped back down before she could see him, and lay against the hull on his back. He had not anticipated his prisoner’s partner being armed and a member of the military. Concluding he had little chance of taking her in a direct confrontation, and other ships in the British fleet would arrive soon to find her, he formulated a plan to free Ahmad.

  He turned his head and watched the drones at work. The tilled fields grew a fair amount of plant life, and promised a good harvest. If his estimates were correct, those plants had been growing for a couple of months, and the two ladies have been stranded on the moon for a while. Perhaps those ships wouldn’t be coming after all.

  James didn’t know what their story was. He didn’t care. He wanted to get his head engineer back.

  “Hey!” He stayed down and out of sight.

  A few seconds later, he heard her through the window. “Who are you?”

  “I’m an associate of the man you have trapped in your airlock. I’ve come to negotiate his release. Let’s discuss terms.”

  “That depends. You have an associate of mine named Angelina. Do you not?”

  “Angelina? Never heard of her.”

  “Really? That’s very curious, as that is not what Ahmad tells me.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “When he first arrived, he told me he needed to pick up some supplies for her and wanted me to let him in.”

  James cursed under his breath. “Oh, Angelina! My mistake…yes, she is back at our ship.”

  “What is her condition?”

  “She’s fine. Perfect health.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that. I want her returned here, still in perfect health. Once she is returned, I will release Ahmad to you.”

  James looked around the area as he considered the proposal. As he did, his eyes fell upon a drone near the edge of the clearing observing him several meters away. He wondered why they kept watching him, and concluded they would have to have some force behind them directing them to do so. He decided to test his hypothesis.

  “All right. I’d be willing to do that. Why don’t you come outside, and we will secure the deal?”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

  James smirked to himself, convinced she was going to give herself away. “And, why is that?”

  “Your man is in my airlock. What’s to prevent him from attacking me once I open it to get out? And, if I let him out before me, what’s to prevent the two of you from departing before I get Angelina back?”

  James scowled. She wasn’t going to fall for his pretense. Why couldn’t he just break Ahmad out and flee back to his ship while keeping his pretty blonde prisoner? He adjusted his machinations.
“We have a deal. But, I would like to talk to my associate first to verify his well-being.”

  The woman paused a few seconds. “Fair enough. You may talk with him through the closed hatch. Once you are done, bring Angelina back here in trade for your man.”

  James nodded, climbed to his feet, and walked up the ship to the dorsal hatch. He took a quick look around the clearing. “Ahmad, climb up to the top of the airlock, so I can hear you better?”

  “Captain?”

  “Just do it.”

  A few seconds later, the response came from below the portal, “I’m here.”

  “Wait right there.”

  Without hesitation, James shot the keypad. Fanning the smoke away and ignoring the sparks spitting out of the newly-created hole, he dropped to his knees and looked around again, his firearm following his line of sight.

  As he expected, six of the drones turned from their duties and flew toward him, extending their grasper arms as they moved. He took quick aim and shot the closest machine. The blast penetrated its outer casing and dropped it to the ground. He picked off a second and a third before the other three came within range, forcing him to move fast. James jumped to his feet and bolted for the bow of the ship, shooting while he moved.

  At that point James discovered three more drones coming toward him from the other side. He rushed down the forward window and fired twice. He shot down one of the new drones and damaged another. He flipped around and found two of the original drones bearing down on him. James fired a shot into the front of the closest one, but the second one grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. He placed the muzzle of his gun against the metal arm shaft and blasted it off its frame, dropping himself a couple of meters to the ground below.

  Ripping the lifeless grasper off his clothes, he turned again and fired into the one above him. Sparks exploded out of the drone and sent it careening into the woods. A glance toward the tilled land showed the last four drones turning and rushing toward him. James pivoted to run around the port side of the vessel, when the last nearby drone seized him from behind and rocketed him skyward.

  James turned enough to aim his weapon at the drone’s chassis, but noticed an oddity about this one. Crudely-formed handholds had been welded to the back of this one, and their presence gave him an idea.