The Star Captains' Daughter

by Kimber An

  Chapter 22

  Olivia rose to her feet, intent on her viewscreen to the stars. “Junior!”

  “Dad’s really hurt,” Junior’s beautiful voice came over com. “I could really use a neurotically overprotective Mama Bear right now!”

  “You got it, Baby!”

  “Captain, the lead ship just locked on a tractor beam,” said Sachi.

  Olivia spun around and strode for tactical. Shoving tactical chief aside, she assumed controls. “Helm, I’m feeding you some coordinates. There’s no room for error.”

  “Understood,” said Lieutenant Mir, studying the coordinates. “We’ll smash shields dropping out of hyperspace that fast!”

  Olivia tapped her wrist-com. “This is the Captain to all hands. We’re getting Junior out now. Grab something bolted down!” She watched the viewscreen flash and the largest Menelaen starship she’d ever seen appeared just as they smashed shields. The air shattered around them like lightening and everyone hung tight. Hitting the Tryon Canon, she blasted the tractor beam emitter and grabbed her baby out of the dragon’s claw. “Got her! I’ve got her! Get us the hell out of here, Mr. Mir!”

  “Yes, Ma’am! Getting the hell out!”

  Coming about, the Maverick jumped back into hyperspace towing the Dauntless.

  The Menelaen starship pursued, blasting the Dauntless engines.

  Olivia left tactical to Sachi and resumed her command chair. “Full power to the aft shields. Keep him off our tractor emitter and engines.”

  “Captain!” Sachi raised her voice.

  Olivia looked to the viewscreen just as an armada of Menelaen starships appeared. “My…God.”

  A nanosecond later, the lead ship broke off its attack to engage the armada. Some of the armada broke off and turned on the others.

  “What…the…hell?” Olivia stood, hands going to her hips.

  “They’re fighting each other,” said Mir.

  Fleeing as they were, a few Menelaen starships managed to break the line and pursue. One blast to their aft shields later and another group of battleships appeared, swooping over the top of them.

  “It’s the Crazy Horse!” Shouted Ashley from com. “I’ve got Admiral Codetalker standing by!”

  “Let’s see him.”

  The screen lit up with Admiral Codetalker, standing forward of his own command chair, a fierce warrior charging into battle. “Olivia! His ass is mine now! Get your girl outta there!”

  “Aye, Sir!” Oliva sat down. “Bring home the fire, Sachi!”

  The USS Crazy Horse battle group swung widely to intercept the destroyers.

  Another four flankships appeared a nanosecond later, overwhelming the splintered battle group, fighters darting in and around, spitting, and stinging.

  “Someone tell me we can bring the Dauntless into our hangar bay!”

  “It’ll be messy, but we can do it.” Sachi responded. “Jose, don’t lose the hyperdrive engines.”

  “Hangar Bay, clear the decks,” ordered Olivia. “We gotta big bird comin’ in! Stand by, emergency crews.”

  Mr. Mir laughed midst the tension. “We’re used to cleaning up after Junior.” He lurched with the ship, studying his console. “Jose’s standing by to kick it up to Mark 6.”

  Olivia watched the Maverick drawing the Dauntless closer and closer in until the smaller ship wedged into her hangar bay like a burger into a bun. The two starships married each other in a clash of titanium and sparks. The emergency doors slammed down, safe.

  Sachi. “We have the Dauntless!”

  “Understood,” said Mr. Mir. “Sensors indicate a clear path to the DMZ with nothing but Alliance patrol ships in range.” He looked around. “Recommend we slow to Mark 4 before we rattle apart.”

  “Mark 4, Mr. Mir. I won’t breathe easy until we cross the border.” Olivia felt the Maverick steady out at her usual speed. “Dispatch repair crews. Helm, alter course for the Eileen Collins Station. I‘ll be in the Hangar…” she jumped out of her command chair and rushed for the lift. “…or the med-bay.”

  A minute later, Olivia stood inside the door, gaze fixed on the heavily damaged starship wedged into the hangar. The fighters and shuttles traveled off the port and starboard now because the Dauntless left them no room here. She pressed fingers to her lips, watching the gangplank.

  Jose dodged in between crew with fire extinguishers to visually assess the damage to the Maverick and the Dauntless. Just then, a Menelaen female with purple eyes and purple highlights in her black hair stumbled out and Jose froze, and then he heated up. His lips fell open. She looked at him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, and he kind of just grinned.

  Olivia pretended to be distracted by the repair crews.

  “I am Beling,” said the female, clutching a doll to her breast. She blushed red and covered the doll’s face with her arm. “Subordinate Kaiya of the Holy Bennu.”

  “Uh…” Jose touched his chest. “Commander Fernandez.”

  “Commander Jose Fernandez, Chief Engineer of the USS Maverick.” Beling cocked her head. “Yes. You are highly esteemed by Her Holiness.”

  “Thanks.” Jose nodded to the doll. “She’s pretty cute. My mother likes dolls too.”

  “Truly?” Beling’s lips fell apart.

  “Can I…” Jose waved a hand towards the door. “Can I…may I show you to the Med-Bay. A medical scan is standard for all newcomers first thing.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Can I…may I take that for you?” Jose nodded to the burden she carried.

  Beling let go of the doll and the duffle bag. She watched him carefully place the doll into the bag and slip the bag over his shoulder, purple eyes full of wonder. Together, they walked out.

  Olivia raised her jaw back into place. Menelaens and humans, together, here, on my ship…because of my daughter.

  A couple EMT’s came down the gangplank with a hover-gurney between them. Isaiah hurried alongside, scanning the unconscious man thereupon. “It’s all right, Olivia! Nothing we can’t fix!” As they drew near, about to pass, she looked upon her husband lying, strapped, to the gurney. She could not see the gray in his hair, nor the lines on his face. She only saw the chiseled features of the man she’d married so long ago. A warm tear trickled down her face and she found she could not bring her lips together for the emotion. She watched him vanish through the door.

  “Told you I’d bring him home tied up in a sack.”

  Olivia looked up without blinking, receiving her daughter back into her arms at last. She smoothed her hand over the mass of red waves on her shoulder. “Oh…oh…my God…”

  “Oh, Mom, I am sorry! I’m so sorry!” Junior broke down, sobbing.

  “You’ve been in the trenches. Things get dirty in the trenches.” Olivia touched her daughter’s chin with her finger, lifting her face. “My baby girl.” Her face quivered. “You’re all grown up.”

  “Yeah.” Junior sniffed and stopped crying. “Somehow, I thought it would be a lot more fun.”

  Olivia cupped a hand to her daughter’s face. “I am so…proud…of you.”

  “Well…good, ‘cause…” sniff “…personally, I feel like absolute shmutz.” Junior took the hand from her cheek and marveled at the weddings rings thereupon. She broke into a glistening smile.

  “Let’s check on your daddy.” Olivia loosened her grip and walked with her, arm in arm.

  Faces lit up in the corridors and Junior acknowledged their greetings, but tensed up each time. What she must have endured which caused her to react that way to her own family and home could not be imagined.

  “You must be exhausted.” Olivia led her into the lift. “Whatever happened, we’re going find a way to make things right again.” She wanted to ask about the telepathy, but something about it made her uncomfortable. Do I really want to know how intimate my daughter was with the next Emperor of Menelae?

  Isaiah would say only the truth could set her daughter free.

  Folding arms, Junior leaned back again
st the rail. “I can’t wait to shower and get into some human clothes.”

  A minute later, they walked into the medical bay.

  “You’re just in time,” said Isaiah, beaming with smiles. “Daddy should be waking up any minute now.”

  “Isaiah!” Junior ran into her grandfather’s hug. “I missed you so much.” Tears pooled.

  Another step closer to home. Olivia let go of a sigh.

  Isaiah patted her back and held her tight. “It’s all right now, Little Girl. You’re home.” His chin shifted against her shoulder. “Why don’t you hop up there so Karana can have a look at your brain?”

  “It can wait.” Junior slipped out of hug and looked ready to flee.

  “Hello, Junior.” Karana wore a long, teal jacket over her scrubs. “Isaiah was worried sick about you the whole time.”

  Isaiah pulled Karana in for a giddy cuddle. “We’re married now.”

  “Really?”

  “Mmm-hmmm, and still on our honeymoon.” Isaiah kissed his bride’s ear.

  “Ooh…” Junior words sunk with emotion and she swallowed to keep the cries down “…wonderful.”

  “Jakoby’s here too.” Isaiah instantly noticed the blank expression on Junior’s face.

  “Oh…well, that’s…that’s wonderful too.” Junior had learned how to keep her mouth shut.

  And suddenly Olivia regretted ever wishing she would. She traded looks with Isaiah.

  “Mom.” Junior took her hand. “I think your face should be the first one Dad sees upon waking.”

  Olivia couldn’t verbally respond. She simply nodded and slowly approached the medical bed. She sat on the edge and touched her husband’s warm hands for the first time in nineteen years. She took both of them in hers and observed his eyes trying to open.

  Edward’s eyes opened and struggled to focus on her. “Uh…” His breath raced before he could think of what to say. His hand shook against his stubbly chin. “Uh…I…I’m sorry…I…forgot to shave.”

  Olivia smiled and let the tears fall. She took his chin, leaned over, and tenderly kissed his lips, finding them just as warm and soft as they had been two decades before.

  His hand trembled against her hair. “The…the baby…”

  “Junior’s fine.” Olivia nodded to their tearful daughter standing near. “She brought you home to me just like she promised, tied up in a sack.”

  “She’s not a baby anymore.”

  “I know.” Olivia rested her head on his shoulder and he held her close.

  Junior stepped back and pressed the privacy controls. She turned to see Isaiah scanning Beling with Jose looking all nervous and cute nearby, holding a duffle bag with Beling’s doll peeking out. She finally let go.

  Karana was just finishing up with Commander Bo. “All right, Junior, you’re next.”

  “Uh, if you don’t mind, I’d like to shower first and see if Chef’s made chili.”

  "Well… I do need to run neural and genetic scans on your father first and he'll… " Karana glanced at the privacy screen "… probably be, ahem, busy for at least a half hour." She glanced at Isaiah. “One hour and I want you right back here.”

  Junior walked out. One hour. I’m not a little girl and I’m not in the United Fleet yet. I don’t have to follow orders if I don’t want to.

  Ariez’s presence grew stronger in her mind. Now, you must tell them you want to return to me. You must cross the border before the Intari fleet arrives.

  “Junior!” Rehama’s face lit up when she exited a lift.

  “I have to go. I’m sorry.” Junior rushed past her and hit the control panel. The Intari fleet is on its way? She glanced guiltfully back at her best friend she’d not seen in so many months.

  Rehama’s astonished face vanished when the door closed.

  Yes. If the humans will not return you to me, you must escape. We are tracking the Maverick. We can intercept your shuttlecraft as soon as you cross the first marker without violating the Nebo Treaty.

  “Because I’m considered a Menelaen now?”

  You are Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess Rowan, Holy Bennu of Menelae.

  I’m not even going to try saying that three times fast. Inhaling deeply, Junior leaned on her hand, hearing the lift halt at her deck. The door slid open and she walked out. There were no other crew, old friends, or defectors waiting to accost her there and she was safely inside her mother’s private quarters within seconds.

  The door closed after her and she stood in the darkness, hardly seeing her old home, so wrapped up in the misery of her own mind.

  Rowan, why do you now hesitant? Your mother has accepted your father back. You’ve completed your quest.

  Every bit of energy drained from her, Junior took one last step towards the window. Off port, a Defensive Fleet starship towed another one. Half of the towed starship was completely blown away, undoubtedly with loss of all hands. “I will not be a catalyst for war.”

  Rowan!

  Her body surged with his panic and she sucked in a sharp breath. Letting go, she let her lips fall part. “I trust in your intentions, but this is a volatile situation. Perhaps in time…” she wiped tears from both eyes “…when peace is achieved…”

  I cannot achieve peace without you!

  Chapter 23

  Delano walked into his old home on the Maverick. Not much had changed, except for the addition of Junior’s pictures. He touched one near the protein resequencer. “Baby’s first tooth.” Another hung near the O’Keefe family portrait. “Baby’s first steps.”

  Olivia pointed to one over the matter recycler. “Baby’s first dismantling of the hyperspace field generator.”

  Delano peered into the gold-framed picture. In it, a little girl with curly red hair sat upon a heap of junk and grinned like she’d saved the galaxy.

  “It was hell keeping that child in time-out.” Olivia chuckled. “Thank God she accidentally programmed a holographic nanny or I never would have gotten any sleep.”

  “How’d she do that?” Delano pulled her into his embrace.

  “It’s a long story.” Olivia smoothed her hands up his chest. “I think we have a lot of long stories to tell each other.”

  Delano held a finger to her nose. “I learned a few things in the past eighteen years.” He let go of her and stepped back. Balancing on one foot, he pulled off each boot. Holding up the pair for his wife to see, he carried them into the bedroom, found the closet right where he left it, and put them away. He turned, grinned, and gave a little bow.

  “Very funny.” Olivia grabbed the boots and flung them across the floor. “Better.”

  Delano let his head fall back in laughter. His gaze fixed and his body suddenly went cold. “Junior!”

  Olivia spun around when he dashed past her and scooped up their unconscious daughter from the floor. “Pulse? Breathing?” She chased him out the door.

  “Yes, she’s just unconscious.” Delano rushed past Rehama standing in the door. “Captain Edward Delano to the med-bay. Incoming medical emergency.”

  Olivia nearly knocked poor Rehama over.

  “Understood.” Isaiah was on duty.

  “With Junior, it’s always an emergency.” Olivia fell into a jog beside him.

  “Why wasn’t she checked as soon she came aboard?”

  “She was supposed to have been, but you know Junior.”

  Into the lift they went, leaving Rehama to update Junior’s friends.

  Seconds later, Olivia followed her husband carrying their daughter into the medical bay.

  When Junior was laid upon the medical bed, she rolled her head over in the white pillow and struggled to open her eyes. “Mom?”

  Olivia sat on the bed and took her hand. “Baby, is Prince Ariez doing this to you?”

  Delano hovered nearby and Isaiah brought the medical scanner over.

  “No. I’m just so…tired.” Junior shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut tight. “Mom, please…I only want…you and…Isaiah here.”

/>   Olivia looked at her surprised husband and Karana working in the corner.

  Karana got up at once. “I’ll read some files in the office.”

  “Edward.”

  “But…”

  “Our daughter is practically an adult now. She has the right to make her own medical care decisions.”

  Delano patted his wife’s shoulder, squeezed his daughter’s foot, and walked out.

  Olivia devoted all her attention to Junior then. “What’s going on?”

  “I think…” Junior looked at Isaiah “…you’d better check for pregnancy.”

  “Junior.” Olivia’s voice stuck in her throat, along with her heart.

  “Mom…” Junior’s face twisted up with emotion.

  “It’s all right. Whatever’s going on with you, we’re going to get through it together. You’re home now.” Olivia rubbed thumbs over her palm warmly in hers.

  The tears trickled over Junior’s face and she watched Isaiah pass the scanner over her abdomen.

  Isaiah breathed relief. “Not pregnant, but…there are over three million live sperm in your reproductive tract. If you remember sex-ed class, you know they can remain viable for up to five days. You’re going to ovulate within the next six hours. If there are still viable sperm in your Fallopian Tubes when you do, you will become pregnant. If you’re not ready to be a mother, I can neutralize the sperm with a contraceptive injection right now.”

  Junior winced.

  “What is it?” Olivia bent near.

  “Ariez wants me to have his baby.” Her voice seemed so small to say something which carried such weight.

  “Junior, did he…” Olivia couldn’t say the word.

  “No, Mom.” Junior focused on her.

  “Did he…trick you…somehow with the, um, telepathy?”

  “No.” Junior squeezed her eyes shut again. “I wanted to.”

  “All right.” Olivia took a deep breath of determination. “I will support whatever decision you make.”

  “Isaiah.”

  “I’m here, Little…”

  “It’s okay. You can still call me ‘Little Girl if you want, but just you.” Junior tried to smile for him. “Give me the injection.” She shook like someone screamed in her face.