“Captain,” Reeves gasped through the fury. “I have secured the bridge.”
Ortiz looked up at his friend. He was covered in blood, both human and alien. Tears were streaming from his eyes even as a resolve grew in them to survive. The sound of fighting had died down from below, and Ortiz wanted to see the damage. Smoke and flames tinged the air with soot and an electric smell.
“Elliot,” Ortiz said. “Are you al—”
“No, Captain,” Reeves replied, wiping black fluid from his face. “I’m not alright. I’m—”
“It’s okay, Elliot,” Ortiz replied, trying to lift his arm to his friend. “You did okay. We have to get control of the ship. I need your help.”
“Always, my friend,” Reeves replied, finally looking at the broken limb before him. “I’m better than okay, Alfredo. I’m free.”
A blast rocked the ship and the two men fell to their knees. Alfredo looked to his friend to see an expression of pure anger on the usually gaunt face. It was the last thing he saw before the lights went out on the bridge forever.
23
Battleship Resolute
The smell of antibiotic and burnt flesh assaulted Lee’s senses as he walked the corridor to the med-bay. Doctor Demsiri and his team had performed triage on most of the wounded, with only a few left waiting for surgery or burn therapy. Most of his crew were stoic as he passed, refusing to allow their captain to see them in pain. He stopped to hold the hand of a young woman from the sensor relay station with fresh skin still growing on her face. She had been severely burned when one of the plasma conduits burst. Her partner at the station had not been so lucky. She tried to smile while the rubbery substance took hold, grafting itself to her natural skin. As he moved further into the bay, his sense of how fortunate they had been to survive the battle grew.
As Lee entered the isolation area of the medical bay, the butterflies in his stomach began to flutter. He had dreamed of seeing Alice alive again for nearly three years. The last time they spoke, he had asked her to marry him and she had said yes. He had no idea what to expect. Doctor Demsiri had told him to wait, and he had toured the engineering areas to give the man time to treat her. The ship was badly damaged, but Booth had assured him the damage could be repaired quickly. With no other place to visit, he had headed to the med-bay at last, trying not to seem too eager.
The smell of astringents and sterile dressings was strong in this section. It was the place where the worst injuries were treated. When Demsiri had told him where she was, he had nearly passed out. The doctor had assured him it was for her protection, however, and not because of her injuries. She had been dead for two years and he did not want the crew to swamp her with questions. As he approached the glass partition separating him from Alice, Doctor Demsiri stepped forward and laid a hand on Lee’s chest.
“Captain,” Demsiri said, holding him outside the door. “She’s been through a hell of a lot. She’s sedated and may not know what she’s saying.”
“Did they… hurt her?” Lee asked, not knowing what to ask but wanting to say something. “Is she still in one piece?”
“Lee, she’s alive and that’s what counts,” Demsiri replied, turning to look in her direction. “Physically, she’s dehydrated and undernourished. She’s got some bruising and a few badly healed internal wounds, but I can treat all that.”
Lee looked to the man when he stopped talking, wondering what the doctor was leaving unsaid. The image of the Ch’Tauk placing a hand on Alice was nearly too much for him to bear. He wanted to hunt down the creatures that took her from him and punish them. He wanted to make them suffer. Right now, though, all he wanted was to see her.
“It’s her mind, Lee,” Demsiri continued. “They took something from her. I don’t know how much, and she’s confused about what happened to her, but she’s not entirely herself. Maybe she’ll get it back someday, maybe not. We need to let her rest first and see how she does.”
“I understand, Doctor,” Lee replied, looking at the floor to keep from making eye contact. “Can I speak to her?”
“Yes,” the doctor replied. “Just for a little while, though. She hasn’t eaten in a while and the sedative will knock her out soon. I only gave her enough to calm her down.”
Lee looked up to see the man. Demsiri had taken over as the doctor on board Terran Princess years ago when Reeves had fallen to his addictions. The man was surly and difficult, but he was also the best medic under fire Lee had ever seen. At this moment, however, he looked miserable. He wanted to give his friend and captain good news, but he was helpless about the facts. Lee raised his hand and put it on the man’s shoulder. Demsiri tried a tight smile that made Lee realize how much others were suffering too. He took a deep breath and pushed past the doctor. The door to the isolation room was closed. The curtains were drawn for privacy and Lee palmed the door controls. The door slid aside to reveal the woman he loved, connected to an intravenous drip and sensors.
She looked thin and frail. Her blond hair, usually kept meticulous and clean, was matted and dark. The hollows of her cheeks were deep and she was pale. Lee’s heart ached, looking at her like this. She had been strong and independent when she was with him. He remembered their first time together on the cruise ship. She had pulled him to her and kissed him with unbridled passion. She looked too weak to do that now and he wanted to rush to her side and protect her. Instead, he stepped quietly to her bed and looked down at her placid face.
She had always been the stronger of the two of them, he knew that in his soul. He may have fought more battles and commanded hundreds of men, but she was the will that made him go on. Even after her death, there was a thin thread of hope that kept him searching. He had followed orders and acted as if he was mad with her loss. In reality, he was frightened the possibility she was gone might be real. Now, as he looked upon her, he felt tears on his cheeks and a hot pang of love in his chest. He wanted to reach for her, but she needed the rest Demsiri had given her more than he needed to touch her. He turned to leave.
“Lee?” Alice said from behind him, her voice like dry leaves. “I must be dead. I saw you die.”
Lee turned back to face the woman he loved. Her eyes were narrow slits as she looked down her body at him. His mouth worked, but no sound came from him. He felt as if the gravity had gone out of the room and he was floating. Stepping forward, he tried to muster his own voice.
“Alice?” Lee asked. “I—”
“Flyboy, is that really you?” Alice asked, propping herself up on thin elbows to look at him directly. “You look different. Are you really here?”
Lee stepped again, slowly, towards the bed. A smile crossed Alice’s face as recognition snapped into her mind. It took only a second, but it felt like a lifetime as they practically leaped to each other’s arms. Lee’s thick arms wrapped around her thin frame, his mouth looking for hers and finding it. They embraced, him with a careful passion and her with a weak strength. An eternity passed as the lost lovers found each other again. Lee felt hot tears streaming down his face, mingling with hers on their lips. After an eternity, they separated and looked into each other’s eyes.
“Alice, my God,” Lee said, breathless form the kiss. “I searched for you every day. I tore holes in the universe to find you. There was no wreckage from your fighter and I just knew that you were alive.”
“Lee,” Alice replied. “I saw you die. Why did they do that to you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Princess,” Lee replied, using her old call sign and their private name for her. “You are here now and safe on Resolute.”
“Lee,” Alice said, with a sudden look of dread. “We’re not safe here. They took it from me, Lee. They took it all and they’ll use it to tear us apart.”
“Calm down, Alice,” Lee said, trying to steady her as she became agitated. “It’s alright. We’re in M-space. They can’t get to us.”
Lee had decided not to tell her they were heading to the Ch’Tauk home world. What he wanted was to hold her agai
n and make her feel safe. She clutched at his arm, squeezing tight enough to hurt. He tried to reach in to give her another kiss, but she pushed him away. She had gained strength with her passion and he nearly fell back from the bed.
“We’re not safe!” she screamed. “You don’t understand. They conquered more than Earth, Lee. They have hundreds of worlds under their control. We think we’re the ones suffering, but there are races out there who have never known freedom. They have forgotten they were ever independent.”
“Alice, where did they take you?” Lee asked, trying to focus her back to the present. “Where have you been?”
“Shut up, Flyboy!” Alice said, rage pushing her upright in the bed. “You have to listen. One of the races they conquered centuries ago can act like conduits for our minds. They read me, Lee. They read everything I knew about flying and took it from me. It killed four of them to do it, but they took it all from me and gave it to their pilots.”
“Alice, what are you saying?” Lee asked in confusion. “They can’t take things from your mind. We’ve never seen any evidence of—”
“I’ve never seen air, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, Lee,” Alice said, pushing his arm back to the bed with force. “These things, they don’t even have names anymore. They pulled being a pilot from my mind and gave it to their own people. We can’t be safe because they know how we fly now. It had always been our advantage in battle, Lee. We could innovate, they couldn’t. Now they stole it from me and they will use it as a weapon to kill us all.”
“Alice, calm down,” Lee responded, raising his hands towards her to calm her. “Things have changed with the fleet. We’re mounting an offensive to take back Earth.”
“Oh, Lee,” Alice said. “Earth? Is that where we’re going?”
“Not yet,” Lee said. “We have another mission. Don’t you worry about it, though. You need to rest.”
“I feel like I have been resting for years, Lee,” Alice replied. “I want to fight. I want to get it back.”
“Now is not the time, Alice,” Lee replied, stepping in and wrapping his arms around her, trying to keep her safe. “Can you tell me how you escaped?”
Alice pulled back to look into his eyes again. She was losing focus as her rage subsided. The sedatives had finally, truly begun to take effect. Her eyes began to glaze for a moment, but she shook her head and licked her dry lips. Lee reached across the bed for a cup of ice Demsiri had left. She gratefully took the chips and crunched a few, wetting her throat and preparing to speak. When she finished, she told her story.
The prisoner stumbled from the small transport, stiff legs struggling to keep up the rapid pace of her captors. She had been shuttled from place to place for what had seemed like weeks now. Each stop brought more bruises as her alien guards beat her down. She constantly looked for a chance to escape. When the guards were not as vigilant, she would work at the band at her wrists or legs, trying to find a latch she could open. With each new location, she would keep her senses open to every detail, always looking for freedom in a single mistake.
The newest station had been the prettiest so far, she had to admit. Ch’Tauk architecture was utilitarian at best, with the exception of the palaces. Most structures were square and low, with cone-like roofs to keep out the autumn storms. Ch’Tauk stations were boxy and compact. She had felt the designs were less about structural beauty and more about what they had integrated into older designs. This station, however, seemed interested in pleasing something deeper. It was a toroid structure with intricate scrollwork lining the interior and exterior walls. She got the impression the designs had some sort of religious meaning, as the guards stopped every hundred meters to make a symbolic gesture at one of the glyphs. She began to wonder if they had taken her to be a ritual sacrifice at some alien altar.
The lights on the station were much like any other Ch’Tauk structure. Her own eyes had become accustomed to the dull orange glow the aliens seemed to prefer. Along the ceiling, red stripes of light glowed an evil grin. She began to wonder about how the Ch’Tauk perceived color and why everything needed to be in shades of red. Her addled mind tried to wrap itself around some fact from her past, but it wouldn’t register. It had been days since she’d eaten and she was beginning to think she was hallucinating half the station. Strange alien faces leered at her as she passed, naked save for a single cloth at her waist. They had taken everything from her, even her dignity, but she kept hope alive deep inside.
Alice was finally taken to a long room with burning candles in the corners. There was no artificial light in this room, and she had the feeling she had entered some type of church. There was a loud chittering sound from behind a long, dark tapestry, and the soldiers withdrew. She was left naked and bruised in the center of the temple for a long time. The only consolation was the smell. The candles’ scent helped absorb the cloying smog of foul odors the aliens always seemed to emit. She tried to breathe through her sore lungs. It took a long time before she felt her shoulders and back relaxing. The entire time, she was settled on her knees on the carpeted floor. Tears fell involuntarily as the woman began to realize she was not being readied for her own death. There was a calm energy in the room that made her want to weep. For the first time in memory, she was relaxing.
After long minutes had passed, a Ch’Tauk entered the temple dressed in a white sash and carrying a tray with a wet cloth and oils. The alien set the tray on a low table near the wall and withdrew. Alice crawled to the tray and surveyed the offering. She touched the warm, wet cloth and realized the creatures were asking her to clean up. Without any shame, she wiped away dried blood and sweat from her skin. She lost the slip of fabric completely as she used the oils to freshen her skin. She felt refreshed. The oils had a soothing effect on her bruises and made her regain some of her faculties. Finally finished the improvised bath, Alice stood and let the small towel drop back to the tray.
She had no idea what the Ch’Tauk were planning, but felt something about her captivity had changed. Before, she had been held by military caste centurions and some sort of king. Now she felt as if custody had been turned over to a different group entirely. These were the priests they had almost invaded six years before. Her location began to dawn as she looked about at the intricate carvings in the walls. They had taken her to the monastery world Admiral Hathaway had mistakenly assumed to be the Ch’Tauk home world. Her flight from the actual royal palace had been precipitated by an argument between the king and someone else important. She began to feel there was a split between the societies so deep it made the two almost different species.
She breathed in the calm, scented air for a few more minutes, letting the past few months fall away. Another priest — she did not know how she knew it was a different one, they all looked alike to her — entered and brought a short pile of clothing. Again, the creature withdrew from the temple after delivering the gift. She picked up the clothing. The pieces were mismatched and most were either too large or not appropriate for her body. Out of place entirely was a loud Hawaiian print shirt in garish colors and silver embroidery. She threw the item back into the pile and chose a pair of rough denim trousers and a white blouse that buttoned up the front. The blouse was too large, but she tucked it into the pants and made do. She realized the clothing was the first complete set she had worn since her capture. Her skin felt scraped and sore next to the soft fabric, but she loved the sensation.
The whole situation was absurd. She had been taken from what would have surely been her death to a place of solitude and peace. She had been given back some of her dignity and faculties. The final tray brought in contained a selection of Ch’Tauk fruit. She waited until the creature had left, and dived at the tray. At this point, she had stopped caring about the possibility of poison in the food in favor of the strong, sour taste of the food. Ch’Tauk food tended to be very sweet, and bitter when ripe. In her infrequent feedings over the last year, she had grown fond of a bright red fruit shaped roughly like a pear. It tasted li
ke bitter rhubarb and the juices tended to run down her cheeks as she ate. This time, she was very careful to not drip on her new clothes. The food took effect almost immediately, strengthening her limbs and making her feel instantly clearer.
She went back to the first tray and used the towel to clean her face after the meal. She was disappointed to see drops of the red juice had stained her white blouse. The sight of the spreading stain suddenly made her memory engage and she began to relive her captivity. She remembered the creature, gray skinned and enormous, with long, thin fingers, grasping the sides of her head and beginning to pull at her mind. She screamed as she fell to her knees in the temple. The pain of having her memories ripped from her mind was excruciating. The experiences flooded her mind and made her want to strike out. She felt claws grasping at her arms and saw two of the priests holding her steady. It took her several moments to realize her screams of pain had been joined by a loud clattering and whistle from outside the temple. The light streaming in from outside had turned a deep emerald and was flashing.
Alice pushed off the sharp hands of the priests and ran to the doorway. Ch’Tauk centurions and priests were running in panic. Alice waited for a break in the crowd and ran to a nearby port. She saw a blast of light as the nearby shepherd moon was instantly blown to dust. She looked away from the flash of light and energy just before the station heaved over. Two guards tried to grasp her by the arms again, finally seeing the human in the midst of the chaos. She lashed out with a fist, striking the nearest with the palm of her hand and pressing him back. The other screeched as she kicked a bare foot into its abdomen.
Priests and guards were staggering as Alice swung the first centurion over her shoulder into the other. She tried to keep her feet even as the station seemed to twist under some enormous pressure. One of the priests reached her just as the floor bucked, knocking them both off their feet. The two staggered across the uneven floor and down the corridor. Hidden by the chaos and smoke from the self-destructing station, Alice and the priest made their way to an airlock, pressing aside screeching residents as they moved.
Resolute Victory (The War for Terra) Page 19
