Alutia Rising

by Craig Gerttula

  After a few minutes passed, the blue gradually shifted to the black of space, the emergency launch vehicle angling slightly to the left and the slight shaking suddenly subsiding as they reached orbit. The edge of the earth could be seen on the left side of the viewscreen, rotating slowly.

  Sasha unbuckled herself and floated the short distance over to Trent. Sweat covered his pasty white skin, but his breathing had calmed and he appeared to be asleep. She kissed him tenderly, trying not to disturb his rest while lowering herself onto his lap, placing her head down on his shoulder and closing her eyes. They had survived...against all odds...and she planned to make the most of it.

  *********

  The battle stations alarm sounded and Daniel pulled himself upright, forcing his stiff limbs to move, trying to untangle the sheets on the unfamiliar bed. It took a moment for the confusion of sleep to clear, but when it did, the memories began to return, and he couldn't help but cringe and try to force them away.

  He'd been violated continuously, being forced to endure things no man should ever have to endure, from the moment he entered Lt.-Commander Xi's quarters. When he finally understood what Xi was planning, that in exchange for her silence he now belonged to her, to do with as she pleased, he thought it might not be so bad. But then he was drugged, with the same aphrodisiac, Noble's Delight, he'd been so fond of using on others, tied to the bed...and the rest was a blur.

  Lt.-Commander Xi was already on her feet, smoothing out her combat uniform as she turned to him with a devious smile Daniel knew would become part of his everyday life...and nightmares.

  "Remember our agreement." Her voice was sultry and made him feel uncomfortable...itchy. He had always been the predator when it came to women and this was the first time he'd become the prey. He sighed his frustration, rubbing his swollen wrists while watching her rush into the busy corridor, before rolling out of bed to pull on his dirty uniform. It may take some time, he thought to himself, but he would find a way out from beneath her thumb. In the meantime, his resentment would continue to grow...joining the nasty lump of hate inside his heart...and the number of people he would destroy expanded by one.

  The starships corridors were completely deserted and Daniel knew he would be the last to the bridge. If Captain Aysi had a problem, he could care less, his life was already in shambles.

  Reaching the bridge, he found he was indeed last, but to his surprise, Captain Aysi ignored him. He took his seat at tactical and quickly brought up his display. Shuttles were still combing the wreckage that had continued moving on its momentum in the direction of the TSB Fleet Base. But the TSB and ABF starships had altered course, heading in system. Daniel held back his surprise, powered starships were forbidden beyond the inner asteroid belt for fear they may be detected. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the Captain had a distant look on her face...she was using her BC node. Deciding against raising a question, he turned back to his own display and started sending readiness requests to his weapon crews. After about 15 minutes the Captain stirred and stood.

  "Communications, give me all hands." Her voice was grave, causing Daniel to turn in surprise and look upon the usually stone faced woman, who was white as a ghost.

  "Communications open, Ma'am." A chill crept up Daniel's spine as he heard Lt.-Commander Xi's voice. The tension on the bridge was stifling as the seconds ticked passed...something bad had happened.

  "Attention crew of the TSB Ero'Cia. Earth Base has been destroyed." Gasps of horror erupted from around the bridge, followed immediately by whispered words of disbelief. Daniel stared at the Captain, dumbfounded. How could Earth Base have been destroyed? It was underground, sunk in solid rock, it would take weeks of orbital bombardment or a planet killer to take it out.

  "Preliminary reports are vague, but it appears that a level one quarantine event took place and the Program on Earth decided to self-destruct the base to stop its spread. There are also reports that the ASU may have been involved with whatever agent was released." Shouts of horror filled the air in response, all thoughts of protocol gone. It was impossible! The ASU had been kept behind the Wall, watched by the massive Emperor's Wall Fleet for the past 400 years. But even if they did break through, why would they come to Earth? It contained no strategic importance and was just a stupid experiment by a crazy old Emperor who died thousands of years before.

  "We've been ordered to accompany the TSB Reverie in the duty of escorting the Alutia Battle Fleet to Earth's orbit. Lt.-Commander Xi, bring us to standard alert, I want all bridge officers back in four hours." Daniel leaned back in his seat staring up at the metallic ceiling. He found that he felt a small twinge of regret that Earth Base was destroyed...his home for much of his life... but it quickly faded. The TSB was finished and there was no way the Earth's governments would not realize their existence after such a massive explosion...even if occurred miles under the Pacific Ocean. He would finally be able to leave this insignificant rock and join some great noble house. A tap on his shoulder brought him back to the present and he cringed when he saw who it was.

  "Let's go grab some grub and then back to my quarters for a little exercise before we reach Earth." There was none of the playfulness in Lt.-Commander Xi's voice that Daniel had come to expect. He nodded and followed her off the bridge, resigned to his current fate.

  *********

  "...and that ugly ass of his was sticking out from under the covers. That was the last time I ever entered his bedchamber!" Vickie exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air with an annoyed laugh. The woman had just finished the story of the first day she'd been given to Sir Simwa, and Tiana couldn't stop shivering.

  From what Vickie had been telling her over the last couple hours, it seemed that Sir Simwa had absolutely no shame, and coming from Vickie, that was saying something. Apparently, for their first night together, Sir Simwa had insisted on including a few of his personal servants. But when Vickie arrived, the festivities had already begun and she was told her services would no longer be required. Tiana blushed at the thought. She was 16 and had the interest in sex that came with the age, but could never imagine doing such a thing with someone she didn't love.

  "Those poor girls..." Gil'Da spoke with compassion, seated at Tiana's side. Vickie's eyebrows rose, a small laugh escaping her lips.

  "My dear, Gil'Da, they may have been officially called servants, but they were nothing but common whores. I never once recall seeing any one of them performing any cleaning...except of Sir Simwa of course." Vickie laughed merrily as Tiana and Gil'Da both blushed at her words. A chime sounded, informing the ladies that someone was at Vickie's sitting room door.

  "Enter." Donnlie walked in and bowed stiffly. He quickly scanned the room, his gaze stopping on Tiana.

  "Lady Tiana, Tomi asked me to come get you...there's something you need to see." His words couldn't mask his nervousness.

  "If you ladies would excuse me..." She nodded to Vickie and Gil'Da, who both graciously smiled back, before she followed Donnlie into the hall and down to the bridge.

  As she entered, she looked to the two 15 year olds working diligently at their stations, having succeeded marvelously in what they set out to do. Unfortunately, Tiana knew they hadn't left the bridge, or taken a break, for the eight hour journey to Earth's orbit, even though she'd said they should. But as she was about to order them to rest, her gaze was pulled to the viewscreen situated at the front of the bridge. To the left of the blue and white sphere that was Earth, a small projected blue square surrounded a metallic, cylindrical object, flanked by words too small for Tiana to see clearly. She started to walk closer when Tomi glanced over her shoulder, noticing Tiana's presence for the first time.

  "Lady Tiana, we picked up a TSB distress signal from Earth orbit. It looks to be some sort of escape pod, but it's not one I recognize. We'll be rendezvousing in about 10 minutes and we need someone to work the docking tube in the engineering airlock." Tiana raised her eyebrows questioningly. Tomi quickly continued.

  "It's very sim
ple and completely automated...someone just needs to be down there to open the doors and..." Tomi looked passed Tiana. She turned to follow the younger girls gaze to the captain's chair and the laser arc holster Tiana had left in her haste. Understanding, and fear, filled her as she realized what Tomi meant. They had no idea who was in the escape pod. It could be Sir Simwa or one of his men...for all they knew. She nodded, scared that if she opened her mouth, her fear would be clearly evident.

  The holster felt heavy as she strapped it around her waist and made her way down to engineering. Donnlie had gone before her, moving the children, who'd been sleeping and playing in the crew quarters, up to the passenger apartments. Tiana easily found the door labeled airlock, then, taking a deep breath to gather her courage, entered.

  It was a small square room with the same metallic walls as the rest of the starship, except for a clear wall on one side, with a round, red outlined port hole in the center. Beyond the clear wall was another small room, similar in size and shape to the one she now stood, that extended to the shuttles hull with another porthole, similar to the one in the clear wall, but outlined in black and yellow. Tiana found a PDU next to the first porthole and selected the load icon, causing a two dimensional image to appear showing a view of space just outside the airlock. A message icon started flashing in the bottom corner of the display, which Tiana quickly selected, assuming it to be from the bridge.

  "Lady Tiana, we will be within range in one minute. An icon should flash on your display when we are close enough to start the docking procedure. Select the icon and the docking tube will extend to capture the pod. The outer door will then open and pressurize the tube and airlock." Tiana slapped her cheeks, ignoring the blond locks that assailed her face... she could do this.

  The small cylindrical pod appeared amongst the faded stars, surrounded by a blue square that quickly grew larger. Tiana could barely discern a small square door on its surface that rotated away from the display, then back again, as the pod spun. During the next rotation the shuttle attempted to match.

  Tiana thought of the 15 year old Yaz, who had been at the helm for eight straight hours, trying to perform the careful maneuver of rotating the 50 meter long shuttle in unison with the much smaller escape pod...Tomi did say he was the best. A small red icon suddenly appeared on Tiana's display when the rotations became identical, which she pressed with her trembling finger, causing the docking tube to shoot out like a rocket, locking onto the side of the small escape pod. The round porthole on the outer hull spun open and an audible hissing sound filled the compartment. A few moments passed before a green icon appeared, signaling that docking was complete.

  Tiana drew her laser arc and waited. Minutes ticked by and no one appeared. Tiana saw another message icon on the PDU display, which she accessed, glad for the sudden, unexpected assistance.

  "Lady Tiana, Whoever is inside may be injured...you may need to enter the tube and open the door manually. In the wall storage unit there should be a dehack. Place it on the door of the escape pod and it should open." Tiana read the message a second time and sighed, why did she have to do this?

  She answered her own question immediately...there was no way she could ask any of the other children to place themselves in danger. But you're a child as well, a voice responded in her mind. But before the voice took hold, she forcefully pushed it away. She was not a child, but a noble lady, and this is part of her duty!

  She searched the wall storage units, cabinets built flush into the shuttles walls, and found the one containing the dehack, a small circular device with a handle on one side and a button on the other. Returning to the active PDU, she selected the green icon, causing the porthole on the clear wall to swirl open.

  Pushing her head through first, then swinging her right leg into the hole, caused a yelp to escape her lips as she began floating across the airlock. It took her a moment to realize that the gravity was disabled in this section, which made her recall the meaning of the red circle surrounding the porthole. She caught hold of a handle and pulled herself towards the docking tube, using the row of available hand holds to start down the long tube.

  The escape pod door suddenly slid open and a black haired blur shot out, catching the stunned Tiana in her mid-section, knocking her tumbling back into the airlock. Tiana fumbled for her laser arc, which escaped her sweaty grasp, flying out of her hand and well out of reach. The attacker had her in a death grip and Tiana struggled to break free, kicking her legs and pushing at the attacker's arms with all the might her tiny body could muster. But the grip was like a vice and Tiana could do nothing but stop struggling, admitting defeat. Despair filled her...she had failed her charges...she had failed the children.

  "Who do you serve?" The voice was gruffer then Tiana remembered, but she knew it immediately.

  "Sasha?" As she spoke the body that gripped her stiffened, then released, floating away while looking up in surprise. Tiana recognized the face of her friend, dirt covered and only broken by a path of dried tears. Her eyes, that had at first been full of shock, suddenly changed to relief, Sasha's mind finally seeming to comprehend that yes...it was the voice of her friend that she heard.

  "Tiana! Oh, Tiana!" Sasha cried as she lunged back at her, hugging her fiercely. Tiana returned the hug with the same exuberance, so happy to see her friend.

  "My Princess! Why did you leave me behind! Oh why did you ever leave me!" Emotions boiled over as Tiana yelled at Sasha, full of anger...and love.

  "I am sorry...I am so sorry...but I had no choice, I could not place you in danger again..." Sasha voice overflowed with sorrow, the sorrow of knowingly hurting a friend...and Tiana forgave her. Fresh tears broke free at Sasha's words, but froze as she suddenly pulled back, her face full of pain.

  "Help me! He's hurt, we need to get him to a bed..and...!" Tiana was baffled by the sudden change that overtook Sasha, the sadness and tears turning into hysteria. She didn't resist as Sasha grabbed her hand and dragged her into the pod.

  Lying unconscious in the seat closest to the door was a man Tiana thought looked familiar, but couldn't place him, being cover in a thick layer of dirt and grime. Sasha removed his primitive restraints and Tiana caught a unexpected look in her eyes, one she remembered from years before, before the incident with Roberto...before she changed.

  She muffled a cry as recognition took hold...this man was Trent! The man Tiana was positive Sasha had fallen for at first sight! So...she had left her behind to save him it seems. She wanted to be angry, she wanted scream, but she knew she would be wrong...her friend had returned.

  Trent slid easily out of the seat and the two noble women carefully floated him through the docking tube, gently placing him into the gravity filled portion of the airlock. They each grabbed an arm and slowly walked Trent's dead weight into the corridor. Tiana looked up, seeing the faces of Donnlie and Regalia peering out from the engineering lobby at the end of the hall...she had an idea.

  "You two! Go grab some of the larger boys!" Tiana yelled and the two nodded in unison, before vanishing. They barely made it to the engineering lounge, when Gil'Da, along with four of the larger TSB Trainee's, rushed down the stairs. Gil'Da cried in joy as she ran over and embraced Sasha, mumbling her words at seeing she was indeed alright. Tiana directed the trainees, who easily picked up Trent and carried him up the stairs to the passenger apartment, as Tiana and Sasha, who escaped Gil'Da's fierce embrace, followed close behind. They moved through a group of children, who stared curiously at the newcomers, while Sasha looked on with eyes full of confusion.

  "TSB Trainee's...Commander Talan was planning on selling us to Duke Zehman...they helped us escape." Tiana expected more than the curt nod in response from Sasha, but guessing from how she looked, it may have become a habit...constantly being betrayed.

  She led them to Lady Vickie's sitting room, where Vickie was quietly sipping a drink and explaining something Tiana knew was inappropriate to a group of red faced girls.

  "Lady Vickie. I hate to impose, but
we have an injured man that needs your bed." Tiana stated, prepared to respond to the retort she expected. Instead, she received a hungry smile in reply.

  "Oh my...yes, the best place for that man would be my bed, this way." She stood, leading the way into her bedchamber. Tiana glanced at Sasha, hoping to warn her about Vickie, but noticed that she was already warily eyeing the less then scrupulous woman. The four boys, sensing something was amiss, quickly, but carefully, placed Trent down on Vickie's bed, bowed awkwardly, and hurried out of the room. Vickie went straight to work, studying Trent's face as she started removing his jumpsuit.

  "I will handle this...do you have a medical kit?" Sasha spoke with authority as she gracefully moved to Vickie's side before forcefully removing the woman's hands from Trent's jumpsuit. Vickie's look turned to surprise, a twitch of anger crossing her lips...she wouldn't give up her prize that easily, Tiana realized.

  "Oh my, I didn't catch your name. I am Lady Vickie and this is my starship and bedchamber. It would be dishonorable of me to not take personal care of this man." Her words were confrontational and Tiana knew Vickie had no idea to whom she was speaking. Sasha turned from Trent, looking up at the attractive woman in the wispy, dark emerald dress, with a small smirk Tiana had never recalled seeing before.

  "I am ever so sorry, I forget myself..." Sasha stood while throwing her disheveled hair over one shoulder, her chin raised, trying to look presentable in her current, less then ladylike state.

  "...I am Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia and I would like to welcome you to my new private shuttle." Her voice started off friendly, but finished with barely controlled fury. She turned from Vickie, not even waiting for a response, returning her attention to Trent, running a possessive hand over his check as she again started removing his dirty jumpsuit. Vickie's face flushed, not from anger, but embarrassment. She was only playing with who she thought must have been a noble lady of no consequence.