The Star Captains' Daughter

by Kimber An

  “Junior?” Olivia smoothed hair from her daughter’s face. “Junior, what is it?”

  “Ariez. He’s crying.” Junior lowered her hand.

  “You won’t feel a thing. The contraceptive only neutralizes the sperm.” Isaiah gently pressed the spray-syringe below Junior’s belly button. He studied the neutralization process on the medical scanner beside her. Finally, he covered her abdomen. “Got every single last one of them.”

  Olivia willed her eyes open. “Junior, tell me more about the Marital Bond.”

  “No.” Junior shook her head on the pillow. “You can’t understand.”

  Olivia observed her tears. “All right. Will you allow Isaiah to run a neural scan?”

  Junior nodded and covered her face with both hands.

  Isaiah brought the dome-shaped scanner over Junior’s head and tapped the controls. He studied the blue light passing over her head and the corresponding read-out of her brain. “Good…Lord.”

  “What is it?” Olivia’s throat hurt with tension.

  Isaiah shook his head. “She’s lost nine percent of her memory emgrams. Little Girl, do you remember a boy named Jakoby? At all?”

  Junior looked up, tears streaming. “No,” she whispered, as though it was her fault she’d forgotten her very first boyfriend.

  Was Jakoby really her first boyfriend? Olivia studied the neural monitor.

  “Little Girl.” Isaiah squeezed her hand. “Karana’s been studying up on this and I could really use her help.”

  Junior sniffed. “Okay.”

  Isaiah tapped a wall-com. “Karana, we need you out here.”

  “On my way.” Karana walked out of the office still saying the words.

  “Alien-on-the-Brain.” Isaiah brought her neural scanner, a dome-shaped device with a wide computer monitor attached.

  “Darling, please don’t use slang when referring to medical conditions around a patient.” Karana used one hand to tap instructions into the scanner and the other to stroke Junior’s arm. “It undermines their emotional well-being.”

  “Won’t happen again, Honey.”

  Karana studied the streaks across her scanner and massive amount of data on the read-out, much of it written in Swahili. “Jae and Lali have been filling us in on the Menelaen mating cycle.” Karana studied the read-out a second more, and then turned attention to Junior. “Little Girl, listen to me.”

  Junior opened eyes as best she could.

  “The majority of the telepathy is occurring in areas of your brain responsible for dreaming. You didn’t faint. You fell asleep.”

  “I know.”

  Olivia studied her daughter’s pained face. She remembered the strange neural scans Isaiah had taken of Junior throughout adolescence and the prolonged periods of REM sleep he couldn’t explain. How long has this been going on?

  “I don’t have the full story on the process yet, but I can tell you Lali’s brain adapted to it immediately. Her hormones triggered the adaptation, just as a human female’s hormones prompt the thickening of the uterine lining in preparation for implantation of the zygote. But, Lali’s a Menelaen female.” Karana resumed studying the monitor. “You’re human, Junior. Your hormones are going crazy and your neural pathways are adapting in a haphazard way.”

  By the cringing of her daughter’s forehead, Olivia suspected Junior knew more than she was letting on. “How long has this been going on?” She remembered all the erratic neural scans and prolonged periods of REM sleep Isaiah couldn’t explain.

  “Based on her medical records, my guess about six years.”

  “Six…years…” Olivia swallowed to keep her breathing under control. “Junior? Is that true?”

  Junior pressed fingers over her eyes and didn't reply.

  Olivia let go of a breath and took in a new one. “Baby, we can’t help you if you won’t tell us everything.”

  “Yes, you can.” Junior refused to drop her hand. “I will tell you what you need to know. Everything else is…” she swallowed “…private.”

  Karana re-focused on Junior. “Little Girl, you need to make a decision. Did you know what would happen when you were intimate with the boy?”

  “Does it matter? What’s done is done.” Junior’s red-streaked eyes darted around. It seemed she drifted in and out of consciousness and telepathic communication. Her face contorted. “I’m so…tired.”

  “If she did,” said Isaiah, “it’s obvious she had no idea it would debilitate her like this.”

  “It’s a lot of work for her to stay conscious.” Karana studied the bio-chemical scan. “Judging by her stress hormones, she’s been struggling with this for some time and is now too exhausted to keep up.”

  “She can’t function like this!” Olivia gripped the bed rail.

  “It’s possible she could adapt to function like this. Of course, it’s also possible she could suffer extensive brain damage, like those female officers who were raped by Menelaens. The last one just slipped into a coma and died last year.”

  “The memory loss,” said Isaiah with a groan.

  Karana tapped fingers over the medical scanner and leaned close to Junior’s face. “I can bring you to near-death. It won’t hurt and it’s completely reversible. It will break the telepathic connection.”

  “No!” Junior’s eyes popped open, tears streaming. “No…please, that …” she pleaded, voice hitting a shrill high “…that kill him. Please…” her head rolled over into unconsciousness “…don’t hurt him.”

  She’s in love with the boy. Olivia’s lips fell apart.

  “All right, Plan B,” said Karana. “I can program a Specialized Neural Inhibitor to suppress the neural pathways which facilitate the telepathy.”

  “You can?” Junior looked up at her.

  “At this point, yes, but…” Karana drew a deep breath and exhaled “…it will require extensive surgery right away. The device will be implanted in your brain. Part of it will be visible.” She traced a shape over Junior’s right eyebrow. “A silver apostrophe a little thicker than your thumbnail will be visible here. And your sleep pattern will be disrupted. You won’t dream as often or as deep. The limited amount of REM sleep will affect you while awake. It will take some getting used to.”

  The wincing of Junior’s face told of an inner anguish Olivia felt the shockwaves of, but was helpless to do anything about. “I can’t…I can’t… ”

  “Baby, what is he saying to you?” Olivia squeezed her hand.

  Junior’s face contorted in terrible anguish, lips twisting and squeezing shut with tears trickling down. “It’s too…dangerous. Please, don’t…”

  Feeling the air, Olivia realized her daughter was talking to Ariez. “What does he intend to do?”

  “No.” Junior opened eyes to her mother. “I won’t tell you. It’s too…” She gripped hands. “Mom?”

  “Baby?”

  “The Intari…they’ll try to force me to…to hurt Ariez.” Little cries escaped her lips. “Please, Mom, please, don’t let them.”

  “Baby, I will never allow anyone to force you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”

  “He can’t understand. He can’t stop.” Junior rolled head over on the pillow to Karana. “Implant the SNI.” Instantly, she shook as though Ariez screamed and she cupped a hand over her mouth.

  Olivia pulled her daughter into a cradle hold and wished like crazy she was two years old again. A simple kiss always made the hurt go away back then. She looked at Karana. “I think you heard her decision.”

  Karana nodded and turned to her husband. “Prep her for surgery. I’m going to need you and our two best nurses.”

  “Understood.” Isaiah gave a nod.

  Olivia smoothed red tendrils from her daughter’s freckled forehead. “Baby, you were right. I was afraid and I made a terrible mistake, and you’ve suffered…”

  “Mom…” Junior swallowed grief “…there are no innocent victims here today.”

  Isaiah came near. “I’m going to se
date you now, Little Girl.” He settled hand on her shoulder. “You’ll have a minute to say good-bye before you’re completely unconscious.”

  “Thank you.”

  Isaiah pressed the spray-syringe to Junior’s neck, sedating her.

  The redness of Junior’s face softened into pink and Olivia wiped the tears with a cotton cloth. The tension in her lips eased, then her cheeks, her forehead, until she slept deeply in peace.

  ***

  Dreamtime.

  “Please.” What was about to happen had never happened to a Menelaen couple before. “You…you do not want this.”

  “It doesn’t matter what I want. No one can give it to me.” Junior held his hands in her lap and spoke softly. “I don’t want to hurt you, but…I can’t…I can’t do this with you anymore.” She cupped his moist face in her hands and kissed his lips. “I’m so sorry.”

  He vanished, screaming, and all of Dreamtime with him.

  Darkness banished all thought and every image, and numbed the agony.

  ***

  Waking Moments.

  Olivia pushed red curls from her daughter’s face and observed a tear escape. Memory took her back to when she let go of someone precious too.

  Karana came close, sterile hands held out in front of her.

  Olivia looked from Isaiah to the nurses closing in and, for an instant, she wanted to send them away, but it was Junior’s decision and a sound, albeit painful, one.

  Minutes later, Olivia found her husband beating the dickens out of a boxer’s ball in the ship’s gym, over and over, beating it. She adored him from sweaty head down shimmering, muscular back and finely sculpted buttocks. This is no time to indulge in marital privileges. She unclenched fists, fluttered her fingers, and approached.

  Delano caught the ball. “How’s Junior?”

  Olivia folded her arms. “She’s in surgery.”

  “Surgery?” Alarm in his voice. “For what?”

  “How much to you know about her relationship with Prince Ariez?”

  “He kidnapped and ra…” Delano couldn’t speak the word.

  “I’m not so sure that’s what happened. I think she’s in love with the boy.”

  “If that’s true, she could never have rejected him to save me. The Marital Bond drives a couple to defend each other first and at all costs.”

  “Maybe that’s how it works for Menelaens, but Junior is human.”

  Delano raised chin. “What are you saying?”

  Raising hands to hips, Olivia turned slowly around, eyes focusing on nothing in particular. She paced away. “Junior is our daughter. We are her parents. It’s our job to take care of her…” she looked over her shoulder “…but she’s gone through hell trying to take care of us.”

  “You don’t think I realize this is all my fault?” Delano rubbed his temples.

  “You never would have gone into exile if I hadn’t divorced you. I didn’t even seek counsel.” Olivia pressed fist to her tight lips. “We can beat ourselves up about this later.” She pointed in the direction of the med-bay. “Junior is in surgery right now, having a Specialized Neural Inhibiter implanted in her brain.”

  Skin a sickening white, Delano turned away.

  “The SNI will block telepathic contact with Ariez. She wanted the implant to protect him…”

  Delano flashed red and pointed at med-bay too. “If the little worm has a telepathic lock on her, it was rape!”

  Olivia dropped her hand. “Would that be easier to accept than Junior falling in

  love with him of her own free will?” She kept the other hand firmly on hip. “All that matters right now is Junior and how best to care for her. She’s going to wake up with a broken heart, whether it makes sense to us or not.”

  A beep interrupted. “Bridge to Captain Delano.”

  Edward Delano startled at the summons.

  “Mr. Ashley is talking to me.” Olivia patted his chest. “It’s time for this family to close ranks.”

  Delano’s eyes danced back to life.

  Olivia tapped her wrist-com. “Olivia Delano here.”

  “Admiral Codetalker is standing by on a secure channel.”

  “Route it to the gym.” Olivia walked to the nearest computer interface and tapped its protective panel.

  The panel rose and the screen lit up with Admiral Codetalker’s graying face and his focus went straight to his old friend. “Well, it’s about damn time you came home! Olivia, why the hell did you take the ugly bastard back?”

  “He’s a good kisser.” Olivia smirked.

  Codetalker boomed his laugh.

  Delano slid his hand around his wife’s waist. “Thanks for looking out for my family while I was gone.”

  “I gave my word.”

  “Yes, you did, but I never imagined I’d be gone nearly two decades.”

  “Olivia, I got the message about the real Admiral Jackson’s corpse.” Codetalker got serious and folded hands on his desk. “We found it in Antarctica, just like Junior said. All that information she provided along with your Menelaen friends’ testimony would normally go a long way to your exoneration, Edward, but I got some bad news.” He shifted grimly in his seat. “Things are really getting messy on the border. The Menelaens are fighting each other and demanding your extradition, Edward. They’ve accused you of kidnapping Crown Princess Rowan…which I’ve come to realize is Junior. And, of course, they want her back too. Prince Ariez claims she’s his wife. I tried telling them the marriage is invalid under human law, but they won’t listen. Princess Ara says Junior’s a false prophet who must die before she corrupts true faith. Then, there’s another guy, Kaliban… ”

  Delano groaned.

  “There’s more.” Codetalker continued. “The Intari know what Junior means to the Menelaens. They’re demanding you hand her over to them or they’ll kill her to prevent the Menelaens getting her back.”

  Olivia exchanged alarmed looks with her husband and remembered what Junior said about the Intari using her to hurt Ariez. “I hope you know a way out, Graham.”

  Codetalker grumped and leaned back in his chair. “This far from U.F command, I have some leeway in issuing orders. As of now, I’m sending the Maverick on a new deep space mission. The Brass’d love to tear apart the Dauntless and interrogate you and your Menelaen friends, Edward. That doesn’t bother me so much as knowing they’d like to get their hands on Junior too. They’d use her to manipulate the Intari and the Menelaens. They’d assume custody of her, maybe even trump up some charges against her, or drag your exoneration out to blackmail her somehow. They’d get her and use her and you wouldn’t see her again for a really long time and she’d be a mess. Well, I’m not going to let that happen to my goddaughter. Or my best friends. I want you all to stay gone at least five years so I can sort out this mess.”

  Delano shook his head. “There’s got to be another way besides us bugging out. The U.F. will string you up.”

  “Maybe so, but something nasty’s going on behind the scenes. I’ve tasted it for decades now. If I don’t dig it out soon, well, my first duty is to protect humanity – not kiss ass and die.” Codetalker leaned back in his chair. “Bug out now. The Intari fleet will enter weapons range in three hours.”

  “Understood, Admiral. Delanos out.” Olivia tapped the panel and strode out the door.

  “Worst case scenario, we transfer Junior onto the Dauntless and cloak while the Maverick provides a distraction.” Delano fell into step in the corridor.

  “Agreed.”

  Delano tapped wrist-com. “Delano to Commander Bo. Tactical alert. Hyperspace engine repair is top priority, then the cloak.”

  “Understood,” said Bo over com.

  Olivia tapped her own wrist-com. “Delano to Bridge. Tactical alert. Lay in a course for the Cogdon Sector and engage at maximum velocity.”

  Sachi responded without hesitation. “Yes, Captain.”

  Olivia felt the hyperspace engines roar back to Mark Six. “We’ll be in the clear once w
e pass the Eileen Collins Station and it’s only two hours away. It’s easy to throw off sensors in the Kenai Expanse beyond it. Once we’re through, we’ll cross the threshold into deep space.”

  Delano followed her into a lift. “Neither the Intari nor the Menelaens have contemporary experience with deep space travel. It goes without saying they have no knowledge of deep space beyond Earth’s territories. We’ll lose ‘em.”

  “Remember the night of the Wu-Cheng wedding?” Olivia kept her eyes on the lift door.

  Her husband’s chest filled with new breath and he touched the small of her back. “How could I forget?”

  She trembled, delighted to realize he hadn’t forgotten her favorite spot. She lifted gaze and touched his chin. “Don’t forget to shave this time. I still have a rash from the med-bay.” She gave him a good smack on the butt, the door opened, and she walked out. “And it’s your turn to cook dinner.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Delano.”

  Olivia glanced back at his boyish grin and wagged her finger before turning the corner.

  Chapter 24

  Junior lifted heavy eyelashes with great effort and lights blinded her. As she adjusted, she realized the lights were actually quite dim. The multi-colored lights of the medical computers flickered around her.

  Isaiah cast a long shadow, reading something near the Intensive Care Unit door.

  Someone held her hand.

  She was surprised to see that someone was her mother. She’d never been surprised by her mother’s presence before.

  “Baby,” said her mother, drawing near. Mom’s blue eyes shone like the brightest stars.

  “Mom…I can’t…” Her fingers went to the apostrophe-shaped implant over her left brow.

  “Can’t…what?”

  “I can’t…feel…you anymore.”

  “You really were empathic.” Her mother’s gentle fingers lifted away stray curls. “How do you feel, well, otherwise?”

  Alone. Junior licked her dry lips and swallowed grief. “Free.”

  “Well, Sleeping Beauty’s finally woke up,” Dad’s deep voice filled the room as his boots hit the floor coming in.