The Star Captains' Daughter

by Kimber An

  A soft whisper, a male voice.

  Junior searched the air. Nothing. No. There was something just out of reach. Or someone. She reached forth her hand as though she could touch whatever it was or…whoever…it was. I’m losing my mind. She took her hand back and pressed it to lips. But, I can’t lose myself. I can’t let Mom down.

  Stepping up onto her bed, she popped the ceiling vent. She climbed inside and pulled it closed after her. The energy beams at the far ends encircled their private rooms, but she wasn’t sneaking out that way. She crawled towards her father’s rooms.

  Delano worked in his office. He rarely slept more than six hours a night.

  Ah, genetics. Junior could see him as she crawled silently in the shaft above his head. She peered at his computer screen.

  Speaking Menelaen came almost automatically, but reading it was proving to be much more challenging. Though it resembled Korean with lots of little loops, the letters didn’t come close to making the same sounds. She crawled on.

  Junior came to the dark dining room. Popping the vent, she dropped silently to the floor and replaced it. Her father kept a computer interface hidden in the wall. She had felt it every evening, coming and going from dinner. She ran her fingertips along the wall until she came to the hum.

  Junior lowered the cover panel and went to work. “Computer, scan and isolate my paternal DNA.”

  “Working.” The male computer voice said. “Complete.”

  “List all security codes cleared by this DNA scan.”

  “Working.”

  Junior delighted in the full list on the screen. She took out her micro-computer and entered the codes into it. She shut down the computer and closed the panel.

  Next, she paid a visit to her father’s closet and clad herself in his complete uniform, full helmet down over her face. With her height, face and red hair completely covered, she was a dead ringer for her Star Captain Edward Delano.

  Armed with her father’s DNA codes, she walked right out the door and down the corridor. The guards even bowed.

  Junior knew she didn‘t have much time. Her father need only go for a midnight stroll outside his door for her escapade to be discovered.

  She found her father’s red sport coup nearest the door on the landing pad. Once his secret code was entered, she was able to activate thrusters and move it silently away from the security monitors. Another button tap and the roof peeled back. Open cockpit! She jumped into the driver’s seat and fired up the engine.

  “Time to make like a baby and head on out! Wooo-hooo! I mean, wahh-waaah!” Away into the night she sped, feeling the glorious wind in her face. “Wah-ha-hoooo!!!” She laughed, the thrill deep in her chest. She almost forgot herself, spinning around corners, not resisting a few loop-de-loops, terrorizing the more dignified Menelaens. "Go, Junior, go Junior, go Junior… Wwoooo-hooooo!!! Time to get dirty, time to get fast!"

  Too soon for all the fun she was having, Junior found the Archives building, parked next to a prelate from some Southern province, and killed the engine. “Whew!” She smoothed her hand over the dashboard. “Well, I know what I want for my birthday now.” She hurdled the side, red cape swirling after.

  Inside, the stoic librarian wore a skirted suit rather like a priest from Grandma‘s church. Once he received her DNA code, he was extremely helpful. He led her through dozens of aisles filled with thousands of gleaming silver data-disks and directed her to a computer.

  Minutes later, hunched over a monitor, Junior felt tension. She winced and her shoulder muscles cinched up. She popped the microchip out of her assigned computer and into her mouth, swallowing. Six Menelaens strode from one end of the library and six more from the other. Ooh, busted. She slowly stood and faced them.

  “Remain where you are,” One said as they surrounded her. “Lord Delano will arrive soon.”

  Junior reached up and pulled the helmet from her head.

  The Menelaens’ eyes all widened when her red hair tumbled out. Some of them gasped. One of them in the back even went to his knees and covered his face.

  Whoa! I know Dad scares some people, but this is ridiculous!

  A second later, a terrible bang announced Captain Delano striding through the formal doors. Menelaens backed out of his way. His long red cape billowed and his extra helmet covered his face. He strode into the circle around his daughter and stopped. He put his hands upon his hips. His red cape spread out, making him look three times larger than he really was.

  Junior knew he was very angry, but he’d get over it.

  Mom always did.

  “Librarian, I’ll take my daughter into custody now. As I’ve informed many others, human children mature much more slowly than Menelaen children. Lady

  Rowan is still a child and I will deal with her personally.”

  “Please, do not be angry with Lady Rowan,” said the librarian, trembling.

  “The fault is entirely my own. If I had been more astute, I would have recognized her immediately and provided a full tour of the Archives…uh, with refreshments, of course.”

  “Got any cookies?” Junior tried to loosen the tension.

  “Uh…yes…as a matter of…” The librarian tried to reply.

  “Silence!” Delano’s helmeted head jerked at him.

  The librarian shook visibly. “If…if Her Holiness desired access to the Imperial

  Archives, it must have been the will of the Sun and the Moon.” He moved in closer and placed himself between her and her father. “I accept full responsibility for failing to assist Her Holiness. Please release Her Holiness into Imperial Protection and punish me instead.”

  Delano shoved the librarian aside and grabbed his daughter’s arm. He jerked her after him and dragged her away at a furious rate.

  Several sharp gasps rose up from the other Menelaens.

  A minute later, Delano whipped around the skyscrapers in his larger transport with security guards in the back and daughter beside him.

  “The librarian wasn’t mad. Why are you?”

  “The librarian is not the Orachi!” Delano wrenched the yoke to the right, narrowly missing a basilio statue. Another sharp turn and a Neboan diplomat’s tentacles flew out when he just missed scraping vents.

  “Who are the Orachi?”

  “Secret police.”

  “Ooh, Gestapo.”

  “In this culture, you are considered an adult and be prosecuted as one under their law! There be nothing I could do to protect you!”

  “Dad…”

  “Silence!”

  Jerkwad.

  What is happening? A young man’s voice.

  Junior looked into the backseat to see who spoke to her, but Naana and the others were stone-faced and female. She decided to keep her mouth shut in any case.

  A couple of minutes later, Delano dragged his daughter down the corridor to her private chambers.

  Naana followed directly behind, along with two guards.

  “Naana! Why did you permit my daughter to leave?” Delano shoved his daughter to her bedroom door and towered over the nanny, hands back on hips.

  “She didn’t know anything about this!” Junior defended, coming back to her nanny’s side. “I told you I came here to find evidence to…”

  “Enough!” Delano grabbed Naana by the neck and pinned her to the wall.

  “No!” In a flash, Junior grabbed a pressure rifle from the guard next to her and slammed it over her father’s head. She shoved her precious nanny behind her. “You will not touch her!”

  Delano caught himself against the wall. He groped away, down the wall, his red cape catching in his office door and ripping.

  Slam.

  Junior handed the rifle back to the guard. Cupping a hand to her forehead, she groped for her own doorway. In the heat, a wave of euphoria came crashing over her too. She lost all feeling in her feet.

  “My Lady?” Naana touched her shoulder.

  “I…I…want to…be alone.”

  “Yes, My Lady.”<
br />
  Junior got inside the door and heard it close behind her. “Computer, lock the door.” She grabbed for a nearby chair, but only felt the impact of the floor before everything went black.

  ***

  Dreamtime.

  Ariez turned to the sound of her weeping. His chest heaved and burned all at once. Their tree house loomed up before him, but she was not there. He ran deep into the forest, shoving evergreen branches and ferns out of the way, following the sound of her cries. He soon found her huddled beneath the gigantic roots of a tree. He fell to his knees and pulled her into his arms. “Shh, my darling, I’m here, I’m here.”

  She embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I can’t…find…our tree house.”

  “I know where it is.” He held her face, smoothing the curls and tears away with his most tender touch. “By the fathers, I will kill that monster."

  "What monster?"

  "Shhh, I will cleanse your heart of this nightmare." Ariez knew she could not comprehend, but she could sense his anger and, by her trembling, it frightened her. He buried the darkness deep inside and passed his affection over her instead. “Everything will be all right. I love you.”

  “I want…to go…home.” She sobbed.

  “I am coming for you. We will be home soon, I promise.” He could not abide her anguish and so intertwined his essence with hers. “Pellosia is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and trees, and everything you love. There’s a lake. Have I told you of the lake?”

  Chapter 14

  Junior awoke with dreams still lingering and dawn warming her face. Blue eyes shone upon her and fingertips stroked her ear.

  One more kiss.

  Always with the kissing. She smirked when his lips touched her nose. The need for water convinced her to lift face. When she did, all dreams vanished into forgetfulness.

  Junior realized she was lying upon a soft carpeted floor inside a door, not in a bed. She reached for a chair and pulled herself into a sitting position. Beams of light drew her attention to the window.

  Sunshine.

  “Sunshine!”Junior gasped, scrambling back like a crab and knocking into a small table. “Stars! Where are the stars?” She whipped her head around at all the gray and white. This wasn’t her quarters on the Maverick! “Mom?” She grabbed a chair and pulled herself up to shaky feet. “Mom?” She took a step.

  The door slid open.

  A woman stood there. She had black hair, burgundy eyes, and wore a burgundy dress. “Lady Rowan…”

  Menelaens! I’ve been kidnapped!

  “Lady Rowan, please…” The woman walked in as she backed into the doorframe.

  Junior turned and sprinted down the corridor. “Mom!” Spinning into a wall turning a corner, she smashed into a table with glass objects on it. The shattering conjured up horrible, sickening feelings which were followed by a wave of euphoria until her very soul seemed to spin inside her. She grabbed her head in both hands. “Mommy!”

  Many lightyears away, Olivia woke alone, breaths sharp. “Junior!”

  Delano had jerked on his pants with the first crashing sound and was still pulling on his shirt when he dashed out the door. The ghost of his younger self smashing the shovel over his hated father’s head chased him all the way down the hall.

  Junior’s screaming rattled his backbone. She stood against the wall, hands bloodied from the shattered glass, face red in hysterics, screaming. “Junior!” He grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the shattered glass.

  Naana dragged in an emergency medical android.

  Delano fell back on his bottom, holding his daughter while she screamed and the android cleaned her up and healed her wounds.

  “Mom.” Junior said in a gasp. Her screams diminished and she spoke between sobs. “Mom…I want…my…mother.”

  “I know, I know,” said Delano, pulling her into a cradle hold. “I want your mother too. We’ll all be together soon, I promise.”

  “Mom…I want…my mom.” Junior lifted her eyes to him and focused. She jerked in his arms. “Mom!” Her head whipped around. “Mom!”

  Delano gripped her shoulders. “Look at me!”

  She looked at him. Sheer terror.

  “I’m sorry!” The words shot out of him. “I’m sorry,” he said again, lowly.

  Wild eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a monster like my father. I don’t want you to be afraid of me. I don’t want to hurt your mother.”

  Junior blinked and steadied her breath. The terror evaporated. Seconds passed. “Dad?”

  Delano hugged his little girl tight. “Yeah.” His chest shook. “I’m your dad.” He patted her back. “I will take care of you and protect you. That‘s what a dad‘s supposed to do.” He stood and lifted her to her feet.

  Naana stood near, the Kaiya Ranger who had humbled herself to a servant’s task for the sake of his daughter.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I forgive you, Captain.”

  Junior’s pinched eyes searched his soul. She touched his scabbed-over temple. “You’re hurt. How did it happen?”

  The horrific few seconds of the night before flashed through Delano’s memory. It was too traumatic for her to remember. “I…was stupid. I…I tripped over my own…” …past… “…feet.”

  Something bad had happened. Junior couldn’t remember what it was. Memories filtered through the fog in her mind. She thanked God her father didn’t insist on a full medical exam, but only first aid. Things were bad enough. In fact, he seemed afraid to talk at all and she couldn’t imagine why. When she worried about it a weird euphoric feeling crept in and someone whispered in her head, but she couldn’t understand what he said. ADHD, narcolepsy, allergies, and now I’m hearing things too.

  By the time she finished breakfast, mostly in a daze, and walked back to her room, she remembered she had chosen to come to this place with her father and why. She remembered her life before coming to this place, but not much since.

  Dad wanted to buy her a new dress or some rock-climbing gear. They’d go climbing and scuba diving as soon as they stepped off the shuttle on Denahi, he said. Everything would be all right.

  Maybe I have a brain tumor or something. Junior stared at the white gown in her dressing room afterwards. It had a silver belt and long, flowing sleeves, like all the others. If only Isaiah was here. He always knew what to do and always kept my secrets.

  This was the day they were to be presented at court.

  What if I have a dizzy spell in the Imperial Presence? Her cheeks burned and she wished she’d told Isaiah about the time she woke up in the lift. That’s when it all started, as far as she could remember. She might die without ever getting Dad home to Mom, and Mom’d blame him for it. I am such a freakin’ mess.

  The woman in the burgundy dress walked in, carrying soft white boots. “Do these please Your Ladyship?”

  “Yes, thank you…Naana.” Or is she Beling?

  “Are you well? It is acceptable to decline an imperial summons for illness.”

  “Oh…I’m fine. I’m sorry. I guess I’m not as…grown-up…as I’d hoped.” Breathe. But, I have to grow up.

  Naana smiled softly. “My Lady, your wings are unfurling even now.”

  “Wings?” Junior fingered the silky dress. She waited until her nanny disappeared into the bathing chamber.

  Looking over her shoulder to make certain Naana was out of sight; Junior lifted her hand and opened it to see the microchip in her hand. One precious memory she managed to hold on to. Dad will never let me send this to Mom. I have to find a way to send it to her myself. She heard the nanny returning and so tucked the tiny data-disk away.

  Naana draped the dress over the rack and began helping her out of the nightgown.

  Junior had gotten used to being helped with dressing and undressing. Menelaen styles for aristocratic women required help, unfortunately. Nearly every garment laced up the back. She eyed the dress. Of course, the neckline barely let her chin out
, since it had to meet with her father’s approval. Looking down at her small chest, she didn’t see how wearing a more stylish neckline would’ve made any difference. “This dress is not at all attractive.”

  Naana showed surprise on her face. “Actually, Milady, I am surprised Lord Delano allowed you to keep this dress. The emphasis on your small breasts is so erotic.”

  “You’re kidding me! Small breasts are considered erotic?” Obviously, Dad missed that cultural difference!

  “Yes, of course. Large breasts might smother a newborn infant during nursing.”

  Junior didn’t catch the incredulous tone in her voice. “Is breastfeeding what Menelaen males really think about when they ogle at a woman’s chest?”

  “A male is incomplete without a female and emasculated without offspring. Sacred Law holds the father solely responsible for the safety of a child. No man would risk siring offspring by a woman who might smother them.”

  “Uh…oookay.”

  Following a bath in her enormous marble-like tub, Palin, Talya, and Lali arrived to help Naana prepare her. Their clucking and fussing made her a bit crazy. Half-way through, she started to shake from wanting to jump down from the dressing pedestal and run screaming away.

  “Deep breath.” Junior let Lali turn her to face the mirrors. She hated mirrors.

  The deep breath caught in her throat, for she did not know the young lady staring back. She touched her cheeks, realizing for the first time many of her freckles had faded with childhood. Her lips were now a deep red. Tight curls had loosened into long waves. Swirls of silver crossed her forehead, disappeared into her titian hair, and fastened in the back. Loops of silver mixed in with her hair. The neckline was a high rolled collar. The sleeves flowed almost to her feet, revealing a silver inner sleeve which fitted snuggly over the tops of her hands and between her long fingers.

  Junior followed Naana and the others into the corridor.

  Dad turned the corner talking to Commander Bo and his jaw dropped. He smiled in paternal pride. “I wish your mother could see you right now.”