Jennings had been thrown neck first against his harness and barely managed to rasp, “Minerva, what the hell is going on?”
“We are surrounded, captain,” Minerva responded. “All ships showing as belonging to Vesper Santelli.”
“Son of a bitch,” Jennings swore. “Can’t catch a fucking break.”
“Shields buckling,” Fix stated.
Jennings tracked the nearest target and depressed the firing trigger. Nothing happened. “Where are my weapons?” he demanded.
“Weapons overloaded,” Squawk squeaked. “Bypass failed.”
Another flurry of shots hit the Melody Tryst, and the ship began to slow. Jennings did not need Squawk to tell him that the engines had just been shot up and were offline. With everything that they had gone through since accepting the bounty on Michelle Williams, Jennings knew that they were damn lucky to be alive. All the same, it seemed like they had managed against all odds to survive so much only to die at the hands of a smuggler’s ragtag fleet. Warnings were flashing all around him advising him that the power plant was failing again, shields were gone, engines and weapons were offline, and then the firing stopped.
“What the hell?” Jennings demanded.
Then he felt a lurch in the ship that was not from a plasma blast- the Melody Tryst was caught in a magnetic beam and was being towed into the cargo hold of the largest of Santelli’s ships. Jennings tried to cycle through some options, but he came up with nothing. The Melody Tryst’s thrusters were not strong enough to break the ship free, and the ship was in such a fragile shape that he might destroy it if he tried to do so. They had no weapons and no shields; there was nothing more that could be done.
“Why don’t they just kill us?” Lafayette demanded.
“At a guess,” Jennings began. “Santelli wants to do it himself.”
“Won’t be quick,” Fix observed.
“No, but we might be able to get safe passage for Selena and Michelle,” Jennings replied. “They didn’t have anything to do with the attack on the Brigandine. Santelli has no grudge against them.”
Silence fell on the bridge as the Melody Tryst entered the cargo hold of a ship Minerva advised them was called the Claymore. Jennings went ahead and engaged the ship’s landing gear- no sense in getting the ship damaged any worse by letting her belly flop on the Claymore’s deck, he thought. The cargo bay door closed, and the magnetic beam disengaged. Jennings was ready with the ship’s thrusters and he piloted the Melody Tryst gently to the deck.
“There’s a transmission coming in,” Beauregard reported. “Audio only.”
“Crew of the Melody Tryst,” the cold voice announced. “Consider yourself the prisoners of Vesper Santelli. Any attempts to restore power to your engines, your shields, or your weapons will result in the destruction of your ship. Explosives have been placed in the cargo bay and will detonate on my order if any of your crew set foot outside of the Melody Tryst. We are jumping to Earth at best possible speed. Mr. Santelli would like to have a conversation with your crew, Captain Jennings. We should be seeing him in twelve hours.”
The transmission ceased.
“Well, that was depressing,” Lafayette said.
No one said anything for the better part of a minute. It was Captain Jennings who was the first to speak. “Marquis, I believe we were discussing some dinner before we were so rudely interrupted,” he said.
“How can you think about eating at a time like this?” Michelle demanded.
“I’m hungry,” Jennings said. “That’s all I can think about right now.” He turned around in the pilot chair to face Michelle, who was staring at him in a way that was wondering how he could have possibly given up. “Sometimes the trap is too good,” he said to her. “I’ve got nothing. If anyone else has a way out…?”
No one said anything.
“Then we need to wait until one of the variables change,” he said. “That probably won’t happen until we get to Earth.”
2
Finally acquiescing to Fix’s requests, Jennings allowed the medic to stitch up the various new wounds he had received, especially the wound to his arm that Pahhal had inflicted upon him. Jennings had insisted that Lafayette go first though, and so Fix improved upon the work he had done after Lafayette’s being assaulted by Petrova’s men back at the mining colony.
When Lafayette thanked the captain, Jennings shrugged and said, “The sooner you’re out of the med bay, the sooner you’re making dinner.”
By the time that Fix had finished with Jennings and Fix had allowed Jennings to dose him with some more anti-concussion medicine, Lafayette had come through in fine form in the kitchen. How the Cajun managed to turn canned vegetables and freeze dried meat into haute cuisine, Jennings had no idea, but he was infinitely appreciative of the result. Most of the crew were eating with a kind of resolved gusto, but Michelle was barely touching her plate.
“Not a fan?” Jennings asked her in between bites of salad.
“Not hungry,” she replied gloomily.
“Tradition,” Fix grumbled.
“What?” Michelle replied. “What tradition?”
“The condemned’s final meal,” Jennings pointed out.
“Goes back to Jesus,” Fix added with his mouth full.
Jennings eyed him curiously, but turned back to Michelle. “What’s going to happen is going to happen,” he said. “There’s no sense in worrying about it while we’re waiting for it to get here.”
Squawk finished eating and let loose a huge belch. “Excuse me,” he said, patting his belly and breathing out contently in a whistle. “Sleepy time.”
The Pasquatil vanished into his quarters, moving slowly, and a few moments later, the sound of loud snoring could be heard even through his closed door. Beauregard was the first to start laughing, and the others slowly joined in until no one could stop, even Fix. When the laughter died down at last, an uncomfortable silence filled the room, and there was only the clattering of forks and knives on plates as a sense of grim reality seemed to settle in over all.
Despite what Jennings had said, Michelle realized that he and the rest of his crew were as nervous as she was. They were better at hiding it and had probably been in similar situations before, but they were just as scared. She looked over to Jennings and their eyes met for a moment. He gave her a smile, and she suddenly realized that all the bravado, all the talk about waiting for their opportunity, even his sudden food obsession, were all for her benefit. Jennings was trying to keep her from being scared. She did not know if that should make her feel worse at their impending fate, or better that he would do that for her.
Michelle had almost made up her mind for the latter, when Lafayette decided to interrupt the silence, “In all the insanity, captain,” he began. “I didn’t even ask you how you found out about the other prisoners on board the ship.”
“That was all Michelle’s doing,” Jennings said. “Refused to leave without them.”
Michelle blushed a little bit as all eyes turned to her.
“So, she was telling the truth all along?” Lafayette asked. “And O’Sullivan too? None of them were Resistance or terrorists?”
“Oh no,” Jennings said, looking over to Michelle. “It’s much more insane than that.”
Feeling the curious stares from those around her, Michelle opened her mouth and out came everything that she had learned from Pahhal: the Gael being banished from their dimension, the existence of a locked Great Gate that would allow them to travel back to where they came from, and that the key had been built into the souls of human beings.
Fix snorted when she was done. “Bullshit,” he said.
Lafayette looked from Jennings to Michelle and then back to Jennings. “Mon capitaine,” he began slowly. “You know that you prevented the Gael from leaving Earth?”
“I do,” he agreed and then he added in a stern voice. “I trust that we’re not going to have a problem with this.”
“Non, mon capitaine,” Lafayette respond
ed.
“There are better ways of getting rid of the Gael than sacrificing children,” Beauregard piped in.
“We’re not the Resistance,” Jennings said quickly. “We don’t kill innocents for a shot at hurting the Gael.”
“Bien sur,” the Cajun agreed apologetically, shaking his head. “Getting rid of the Gael… It wouldn’t be worth it.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Michelle agreed.
Without a word, Fix put down his silverware and stood up from the table. He started like he was headed to his quarters, but stopped and turned back to the others. “None who are innocent deserve imprisonment,” he said quietly, a pensive look on his face. “What we did here was right- was justice. If it costs us our lives, I say so be it. I’ll go to my Maker with my conscience clear, my soul light.” Turning back around, Fix walked into his quarters and shut the hatch.
“I think Fix has the right idea,” Jennings said.
“About what we did?” Beauregard asked.
“About getting some sleep,” Jennings corrected with a half-hearted smile. “I’m exhausted.”
Lafayette nodded wearily and started clearing the table while Jennings showed both Beauregard and Michelle to their quarters. He returned to help the Cajun and in a few minutes, they too were both headed to their bunks ready to get some sleep. Jennings shut the hatch to his cabin and hit the light, the room now only illuminated by the green glow of the emergency running lights. He had just lain down, exhaustion seizing his body, when there was a quiet knock on his door. Jennings got back up to his feet, did not turn on the lights and walked over to the hatch. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Selena Beauregard standing there.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” she asked coyly with a lascivious look on her face.
“Uh, no offense, but no,” Jennings answered awkwardly. He felt his face flushing with embarrassment.
“So, you and Lafayette,” she said knowingly.
“Huh, wait, no,” Jennings muttered. “No, you’re nice and pretty and all that, and I’m all about the ladies…” He never talked like this- what the hell was going on with him? “But I…”
Beauregard smiled and raised her eyebrows at him.
“Look, I don’t… I mean, I’m just not someone who…” he fumbled with his words even more, and it looked like Beauregard was doing all she could to keep from laughing.
“You’re not that in to a casual dalliance, a midnight fling, a one night stand?” she asked.
“Look, you’re really pretty…”
“You said that already,” she pointed out.
“And there is a part of me that wants to say yes, but I am…” his voice trailed off.
“It’s all right,” she said at last. “After I tried to kill you a few times and being that you saved my life, I thought I’d offer you an amusing diversion in what might be our last hours.”
“I appreciate the offer, but…”
“No need to finish the sentence, captain,” she said. “I’ve seen that look on a few men’s faces before in my line of work: the anguish of betrayal. You have an amazing sense of loyalty, captain.” In a whisper, she added, “I hope she appreciates it.”
With a sad smile, Jennings said, “No one ever does.”
With that, Beauregard left and headed back to her quarters, and Jennings shut the hatch and returned to his bed. This time the door knock came before he had even lain back down. Letting loose a sigh of frustration, Jennings stood back up and opened the hatch once more.
“Michelle?” he said in surprise.
“Were you hoping it was Selena?” she asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.
“Not at all,” he said. “Come on in.”
Michelle stepped over the threshold and meandered through the dark until she arrived at Jennings’ bed and sat on it. He closed the hatch and then sat down beside her.
“I was waiting for the hallway to be empty before I came over here,” she said. “I saw Beauregard come here.”
“And you saw her leave,” Jennings pointed out.
“Why didn’t you let her in?” she asked, turning her head sideways to stare at him.
Jennings sighed. “She doesn’t have anything I’m looking for,” he said after a moment’s pause.
Michelle turned away and stared out into the darkness of the cabin for a moment. “I didn’t really thank you for coming to rescue me,” she said.
“You don’t have to,” he replied quickly.
“You risked everything for me,” she said. “You didn’t have to go to the lengths you did to protect me in the mines. You could have written me off after I was captured, and you didn’t have to fight a Gael Hunter-Killer. I want to know why you did that for me.”
“I…I…” the words seemed to stick in Jennings’ throat. “I couldn’t just leave you,” he said at last.
“Why?” she asked, her voice sounding somewhat desperate.
“I just thought of you dying… and… I couldn’t imagine that,” he said. “After everything you had been through… knowing that you were dead would have…”
“Felt like having your heart ripped out,” she finished for him. He could see tears glistening in her eyes in the faint green glow of the emergency lights. “That was how I felt when I thought you were dead… when I thought you had died for me. I’d never met anyone before who would have done the same.”
Her hand reached out in the darkness and found his. “Michelle…” he whispered, trying to stop himself, trying to tell himself he was taking advantage of her, but her mouth found his and kissed him hard. Their lips and tongues met and explored each other for several moments before Jennings was at last able to break away.
He was about to launch into an admonition about how they were going too fast, about how they barely knew each other, about how she was just fixating on him because he saved her life a few times, but before he could speak, she had pushed him back onto the bed and had climbed on top of him.
“Have you ever… you know?” she asked.
“It’s been a while, but a few times. During the war, I lay with a few,” he said, but added quickly, “But I’ve never made love to a woman before.” There was added emphasis on the word love. “You?” he asked.
“Almost,” she said quietly. “That was where this all started…”
She did not finish the sentence, but instead lay her body on top of Jennings and began kissing him again. He grasped her tightly with his arms, an intensity of desire seizing him as he kissed her with a renewed fury, and a moan escaped his lips. Jennings rolled over with her, so that he was now on top and pulled himself up to a kneeling position so that he could take off his shirt. When he had gotten free of the garment, he tossed it aside and saw that Michelle had managed to get free of hers as well.
She pulled him down to her and he gently cupped her right breast with one hand while he brought his mouth down to her nipple. His tongue flicked across rapidly, and Michelle moaned in delight. Her hands went to his belt buckle and started to unfasten his pants. A shudder of pleasure ran through Jennings as she freed him from his pants and ran her hands over his manhood.
“I want you,” she said in a strong, commanding voice.
Pulling himself up to a kneeling position once more, he yanked off her pants, and she wrapped her bare legs around him, drawing him in closer to her. He kissed her deeply as he slid inside her, and she cried out in that mixture of pleasure and pain that all women experience in their first time. She held him tightly as he continued to kiss her, his groans reaching a quick climax that made his entire body quiver.
Jennings let his head fall to Michelle’s breast, and she wove her fingers through his hair as her legs still cradled his body against hers. The sense of exhaustion that Jennings had been feeling swept over him like a wave, and he did not think that he could keep his eyes open a moment longer.
“Sleep,” Michelle whispered. “It won’t get any better than this.”
Chapter 40
“Capta
in?” the voice seemed very far away. “Captain Jennings?”
Slowly, Jennings came into consciousness and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. “Minerva?” he whispered back, trying to allow the sleeping Michelle Williams to stay that way.
“There is another communication coming in from the Claymore,” Minerva reported. “Should I send it to your quarters?”
“No, I’ll take it at the bridge,” he said.
As quickly and quietly as he could, Jennings got dressed in the dark and slipped out of his quarters. The crew area was completely empty as everyone was still asleep, and he walked briskly down the gangplank and into the bridge. He punched a few controls in the communications console and the transmission began, once again audio only.
“Am I disturbing you, Captain Jennings?” the voice demanded. It was stern and masculine, but that was all Jennings could tell.
“Not at all,” Jennings replied. “Caught me taking a nap.”
“You were asleep?” the voice replied.
“Sure, it’s been a long day,” he answered.
“Most people would not spend the last few hours of their lives sleeping,” the man pointed out.
“If you’re assuming this is the last few hours of my life,” Jennings agreed. “I think the jury’s still out on that.”
The man laughed. “I have always liked your style, Captain Jennings,” he said. After a moment’s pause, he added, “Well, to business. We are almost to Terran space. I am preparing an escort, a large and fully armed escort, to take you and your crew to Mr. Santelli once we have landed. They will meet you in the cargo bay. Until they are present, do not attempt to leave your ship as the explosives are still in play. And please do not be so preposterous as to bring any weapons with you. I would have your crew ready in fifteen minutes. Oh, and dress nice, yes?” The communication ended, and Jennings was left with a very strange feeling.
“Why in the world would they care how we dress?” he muttered.
Shaking his head, Jennings left the bridge and headed back up to the crew area. Going from door to door, he got Fix, Lafayette, and Beauregard up and told them what he had been told. It was accompanied by general looks of incredulity and a few shrugs. Without any further explanation, he returned to his own quarters and gently shook Michelle into consciousness.
111 Souls (Infinite Universe) Page 40
