The Star Captains' Daughter

by Kimber An

  Edward…face smooth, boyish grin.

  “Captain,” said Sachi. “I’ve run the scans. Your suspicions regarding Admiral Jackson’s interest in Junior are confirmed. He’s been accessing United Fleet family law and laws regarding juvenile offenders. He appears to be searching for a way to take legal custody of her.”

  Reserved Isaiah burst with rage. “That dirty old pervert!”

  Olivia struggled to keep pulse and breathing under control, gripping the photo-holder in hand.

  Everyone knew Admiral Jackson had grown steadily more corrupt since the War, and he wasn’t exactly a model officer back then either. Codetalker suspected the Intari Premarean Guard and human conspirators kept him on the job. This wouldn’t be the first time he tried to install an under-aged girl in his private quarters.

  “Captain,” continued Sachi. “If he does obtain physical custody of Junior, there will be nothing we can do to protect her. We will be forced to pursue the matter through the courts. By the time we got her back…”

  “…she’d be emotionally scarred for life from sexual abuse.” Isaiah finished the sentence.

  Olivia knew they were already in for it and honorable United Fleet help was too far away. “Sachi, draw up a tactical plan for worst case scenario.”

  Sachi nodded. “Consider it done.” And she walked out.

  Olivia settled gaze on her oldest friend.

  “Jackson got Edward out of the way and you rejected him.” Isaiah propped hands on hips. “Malcolm died and still you rejected him. Now, he wants to make you pay and nothing could hurt you more than him hurting Junior.”

  “Oh, Isaiah, I know you’re always right, but I dearly hope you’re wrong this time.”

  “Are you holding on to Junior for your sake or hers?”

  Olivia’s lips fell apart. “Pardon?”

  “Jackson can bring her up on charges of aiding and abetting the enemy, and even treason. We can’t keep her safe anymore.” Isaiah spoke in a tone of eternal wisdom. “Maybe Edward can.”

  My dad is a good man.

  Junior smacked the closet door panel and it slid open. “What the… Did I actually wear these pathetic little girl dresses?” She fingered a pink and silver brocade with gray leggings and silver bootie boots. “No wonder Rehama was constantly nagging me about my clothes.”

  Grabbing the offensive outfit, she tossed it into the matter recycler. “Stella, turn this into something more grown-up.” She leaned against the wall and glared at the clothes piled in the metallic alcove.

  “Please specify.”

  “I don’t know!” Junior threw up a hand. “My new favorite color is jade green. Access Rehama’s fashion magazine and make something jade green from it.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  A few seconds passed. The little girl clothes shimmered and finally vanished. New clothes, neatly folded and stacked, materialized, along with black riding boots.

  “Knotty!” Junior whipped out the green silk and found it to be a long-sleeved blouse.

  Seconds later, she exited her quarters in the jade blouse, sleek black pants, and rider boots. She pulled the gold heart-shaped locket outside the collar.

  Rounding a corner, Junior watched as a dozen security guards escorted five members of her father’s crew. Four of them were her own female attendants he’d assigned to her. “Hey, Billy!” She caught up with the black-haired guard riding shotgun. “What’s going on?”

  “Oh, hi, Junior. Did you know your mama was worried sick about you?”

  “Yeah, yeah, what’s going on?”

  “We’re taking these POWs over to Admiral Jackson’s ship for interrogation.”

  “Lady Rowan.” Beling craned her neck to see her.

  “’Lady Rowan?’” Billy twirled his brown eyes in absurdity.

  “Hey, as long as Chef calls me to dinner, I don’t give a blam what the rest of you call me.” Junior pushed past him and caught up to Beling. “Are you all right?”

  “Hey, these are dangerous…” Billy started to say.

  “These are my friends!” Junior shouted back at him. “Beling, are you all right?”

  “There is no one to comfort…” Beling glanced and blushed “…Ayme. She is alone.”

  Her doll. ‘Ayme’ means ‘beloved.’ Junior patted her back. “It’s okay. I’ll get you home to her, I promise.” She waited for Billy. “We can’t send these five over to Jackson. They’re my dad’s crew. We have to send them back.”

  “We got our orders, Junior.”

  Junior broke ranks and tapped a com panel. “Junior to Mom.”

  “What is it, Junior?”

  “Why are you sending Dad’s crew over to Jackson?”

  “Orders, Junior.”

  “But, Jae has a date with Lali tonight! He’s trying to get her to marry him. Beling needs her…well, she needs to get home and…”

  “Run along to dinner now. Bridge out.”

  Junior propped her hands upon her hips. “I can’t believe this. My parents are so much alike I could scream!” She watched the guards and the Menelaens pass through the hangar bay doors.

  Popping a ceiling vent, Junior jumped up, grabbed hold of the edge, and hauled herself up into a work conduit. She crawled over to a wall vent and peered into the hangar bay.

  The shuttle moved slowly from its place and out the great doors, towards Jackson’s ship.

  Junior pulled her knees to her chest and held them. Picking up her gold heart-shaped locket, she pressed the bottom of it. The family hologram appeared. She’d digitized her parents’ wedding picture and merged it with her own.

  Family.

  She pressed the button and the hologram vanished. Gripping locket and rings in hand, she pressed fist to forehead.

  Come to me.

  Junior perked up, looked behind her, and saw the blue eyes in her thoughts. Then, her lashes weighed down with pleasurable feelings she couldn’t resist.

  He was calling her from beyond the Threshold and she would go to him.

  ***

  Dreamtime.

  Ariez stood in the dark forest, the leaves wet beneath his feet. The cool air soothed his facial burns.

  She appeared. For an instant, she did not know him and he feared her.

  “Please.” Ariez could think of no other words to say.

  “Something’s wrong.” Confusion riddled her pretty face. “Your face is burned.” She passed fingertips over his face, but feared her touch would harm him further. “Who did this to you?”

  “It does not matter who did it. Something terrible happened, just as you predicted. I failed to manage the situation and still our bond is not complete. Please…” he tried not to tremble “…forgive me.”

  “Who burned you?”

  Ariez shook his head and tried to put an obliging expression. “All that matters is…”

  “Answer me.” Her focus could not be denied.

  “You did.”

  “What?” All color vanished from her face. She knew it was true. “How?”

  He swallowed hard and could only hope. “With your anger.”

  “But…how could I …” she could no longer bear to look at him. “I…” deep breaths “…love you.”

  “It was mistake. I was in disguise and you did not know me.” Ariez followed her and dared to slip his hands around her waist. “You thought I was a monster.”

  She turned in his arms and slipped her hands up to his face.

  It stung horribly at first and Ariez ground his teeth to keep the scream in. He waited for the healing to come. Only faith in her healing could make it so.

  The burning lifted from his face and vanished. “I knew you loved me. You simply could not remember.”

  She smiled, weakly, in response to his hopefulness. “I don’t ever want to hurt you again.”

  “You will not.” Ariez lifted her fingers from his face and kissed them. “Remember me when you cross the Threshold. I have a specialized shuttlecraft waiting. We can escape across the
border. I will assume command of the Mydis before…”

  She listened, but her tense face convinced him she did not fully understand.

  “Nevermind. It is only important that you remember me. As long as you remember me when you wake, everything else will fall into place.” He slipped his hand up into her hair. “You will remember me? Will you not?”

  “I…I don’t…” Her eyes darted around. “I want to. I love…”

  A bright, white light shone upon them, cutting through the forest.

  She looked. She saw the sword in the stone.

  “No!” Ariez pulled her away. “Please, do not look at it. Make it go away. It can not be here if you don’t want it here.” He took her chin in hand. “Focus on me. Reject the sorcerer and come away with me.”

  “He’s not a sorcerer.” She kept her focus on the sword trapped in the stone. “My father is a good man.”

  “Please.” Ariez cupped her face in both hands. “You said you did not want to hurt me. If you free the sorcerer, he could force you to destroy me.”

  She shook her head. “No, he…” But, she knew it was possible. “But, I…” She gripped one of his hands and pulled it down. She looked at the sword in the stone and panic seized her heart. “He’s dying!” Whipping hands around, she shot them up between his arms to break free. And then she ran, she ran for the sword in the stone.

  “No!” The restraints showed no mercy to Ariez.

  “I won’t let him die.” She grabbed the sword in both hands and pulled. The sword slid easily out, scraping metal against stone, and she held it high. The sunshine streamed through the redwood trees, the dark green ferns gathered about her.

  The Holy Bennu vanished and Dreamtime with her.

  ***

  Waking Moments.

  Junior recovered from a lapse of consciousness with a sharp breath, all memory of it fleeing into the darkness. She rose from lying on cold metal and surveyed the hangar bay. Only technicians remained, passing decontamination machines over the surface.

  Energy shielding framed Admiral Jackson’s ship in the launch doors.

  The time has come to set things right. Junior opened her hand and examined her locket and her mother’s wedding rings. I have to get Dad and bring him home to Mom. She dropped locket and rings to catch on the gold chain and crawled out.

  Olivia set a plate on the family table, hoping dinner ease the tension. She eyed Fluffy perched above the cooling unit. “I don’t like cats.”

  Fluffy gave her an imperious sniff and flipped the end of her tail.

  Junior walked in. “Mother, we need to talk.” She looked so grown up in a jade silk blouse and black pants. And tall, she looked really tall.

  Olivia drew breath and squared her shoulders. She observed, with chagrin, that Junior squared her shoulders in the exact same way.

  But, then, Junior relaxed her shoulders and walked calmly to the beverage dispenser. Resting a hand on the alcove, she said, “Stella, one cup of coffee with one tablespoon skim milk and half a teaspoon of sugar and one cup of chamomile tea with one teaspoon of honey.”

  The two cups appeared in shimmering light. Junior picked them up, walked over, handed her the coffee, and sat neatly down with her tea. She hadn’t broken anything or spilled even a drop.

  Olivia sat down and felt a tear trickling down her face. “Your father taught you all this?”

  “Yes. He did.” Junior sipped her tea.

  “Well, I’m so…so proud of you.” Olivia had long since given up hope of ever teaching her the same thing.

  “I’m going after Dad.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “According to the database on family law, a child of divorced parents has the right to choose which parent to live with after the age of twelve. I’m sixteen years old. I choose to live with my father now.”

  Olivia pressed her lips together before speaking again. “Family law is irrelevant in our case. No Alliance citizen is permitted to cross the DMZ.”

  “My father is a naturalized Menelaen citizen and I am his daughter. I have dual citizenship.”

  “Why do you want to go?” Olivia noticed her hands shaking and set down her coffee cup.

  “I’m not a stupid child anymore, Mom! I know how things work. Lots of people divorce. Some people reconcile. Most don’t. But, my father and mother still love each other! My parents’ marriage was destroyed from the outside. I’m going to Menelae to bring my father home. I‘m going to find the evidence and witnesses needed to clear his name.”

  “I can’t let you go.”

  “No one knows better than you that I cannot be contained! I am my father’s daughter. I am going. And I will come back. I will come back and I will bring my father with me, tied up in a sack. I swear to God.”

  The tears squeezed out the inner corners of Olivia’s eyelashes. She swallowed hard and opened. “Junior…you can’t…”

  “Why did you, and this entire crew, risk everything to come after only one person, to come after me?”

  “You are my daughter and I love you. This crew is your family.”

  “Edward Delano is my father and I love him. He is my family too.” Junior drew a shaky breath. “Right now, he’s in bondage to despair.”

  “It’s too dangerous!”

  “This is my risk to take. My own. I love you, Mom, and so does Dad. I will come back to you. We both will.” Junior hugged her.

  Olivia responded to her daughter’s hug by holding her tightly, wanting to freeze that moment forever. Drawing a deep breath, she found the courage to let go somewhere between Isaiah’s wisdom in her heart and a kiss on her daughter’s cheek.

  Junior placed something in her hand, stood, and walked out.

  Olivia opened her hand to see the rings Edward had given her on that day long ago when they two became one. She fisted the Celtic gold and pressed it to her lips. A maternal sob made its way up from the innermost parts of her being.

  Seconds later, Sachi’s voice piped in from the Bridge. “Captain! Junior’s

  jettisoned in a LifePod! I’m getting a tractor beam on her!”

  Olivia lifted her face from the palms of her hands. “No.”

  “Say again?”

  Olivia’s nose stung. “Let her go. She’s returning to her father. He needs her more than we do right now.”

  “Captain?”

  “You heard me.” Olivia wiped away her tears with her fingertips. “Junior’s growing up. The time has come to let her go.”

  Fluffy flew into her hair and snuggled in.

  Olivia almost grabbed the stupid cat to toss it away, but then it purred in her ear and she remembered Junior’s cute face holding her. Sniffing a bit, she gingerly petted its head. “Sachi, commence Operation…” she lifted eyes to Jackson’s ship framed in her starry window “…Demeter’s Wrath.”

  “Understood. Bridge out.”

  Deep inside Jackson’s flagship, Junior rose up behind a security guard outside the Brig and pressed a spray-syringe sedative to the neck. She caught him when he slipped into unconsciousness and lowered him to the floor. Swiping his wrist-com, she pulled the security clearance rod from it and inserted it into the panel beside the door. It opened and she fired plasma-pistol on the stun setting. Both interior guards went down. She saw the Menelaens standing on the other side of the force field and dashed behind the console. Her fingers flew over the controls. “Almost got it. Got it!”

  The Menelaens rushed out when the force field went down, Beling in the lead. “I knew you would not abandon us, My Lady!”

  “I’ve got a LifePod sucked onto a garbage chute waiting for us. I’ve fiddled with internal sensors but we only have four minutes before they come back on-line. Let‘s roll!” Junior led the way out.

  Jae grabbed pistols from the unconscious guards and tossed one to Beling who gestured for Lali, Palin, and Talya to follow them.

  Two minutes later, the group of six crammed into the LifePod which only seated four. Beling inadvertently shoved
her heel into Lali’s ear. “Forgive me.”

  “Forgiveness.”

  “Time to blow this tossberry stand!” Junior announced, seizing the piloting controls. “Lali, you‘ve got navigation there. It‘s just like Menelaen nav-cons, except coordinates are based on the center of the galaxy rather than the rim.”

  “Understood, Lady Rowan.”

  On the Maverick bridge, Olivia watched the tiny LifePod detach from the hull of Admiral Jackson’s enormous, gleaming white starship, the largest, most powerful ship in the entire Defensive Fleet.

  Nothing in the Deep Space Fleet even came close.

  In a flash, the blackness of space swallowed up the Lifepod, and her little girl with it.

  “Sachi?” Olivia folded arms, biting back the urge to order a pursuit course and tractor beam.

  “Scanning hyper-space on long-range,” said Sachi. “Stand-by.” She moved fingers to the adjacent panel and breathed relief. “Yes. The Mydis has scanned the LifePod and is moving to intercept.”

  Take good care of our baby, Edward.

  Chapter 10

  Delano faced Commander Bo in his office. “Send Aodhan to my daughter. My wife’s sword is the only thing of true value.”

  “Please reconsider, My Lord.” Commander Bo presented a dagger laid out on a black cloth in his hands. “As long as there is life, there is hope.”

  Delano picked up the dagger. He remembered his promise to his adopted father, not kill himself, but he had already failed in every other way. “My daughter was my hope. I caused my wife great pain when I kidnapped her. I cannot live without hope, but I cannot cause my wife further pain. It’s clear she will have nothing further to do with me. This is the only way to spare my daughter the stigma of my cowardice.”

  “You are not a coward, My…”

  “Leave me.”

  Trembling, Commander Bo bowed. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve under your command, My Lord.” He walked out.

  Delano knelt on a decorative cloth and held the sheathed dagger in his left hand. He drew it out with his right hand. The dagger was Menelaen. He would not dirty Aodhan with his cursed blood. He drew a breath and pointed the dagger’s blade at his heart. “I die with your name on my lips, Olivia.” He drew another breath and…