Escape Velocity (The Black Star Chronicles Book 1)

by E. P. Wyck

  “Almost?”

  “I still have Kali.”

  “But do you really?”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I mean she all but hates you. She might actually hate you.”

  “I don’t think she hates me. I think she doesn’t understand why I chose to let him die on his own terms.”

  “Which were?”

  “Well, we lost multiple guards and Egil felt those lives were lost in vain. Why was his life more valuable than theirs?”

  “He kind of sounds Ascendant.”

  “He was in a way. That’s why I took to him so.”

  “I see. So, what do we do about the gendercide then?”

  “I don’t know. I think we need to have a meeting, the three of us,” Eve said.

  “That would be good. I’ll have my assistant set it up for us. Sometime next week, though. I am booked solid this week,” Kyneska said, walking out of the room.

  Eve, couldn’t help but feel that Kyneska came to talk about something else. She asked her about Egil first thing. Maybe she meant to determine a way to continue her secret relationship with Attor, Eve thought to herself.

  “Before that prisoner is released, have him brought to me,” Eve said via her intercom to her assistant.

  Chapter 25

  Kali made her way down to the cargo hold and into the stasis storage room. She looked up and saw the suspended pods Royce mentioned.

  She flew up to get a better view. She hovered, but her flapping wings wouldn’t let her get too close to the pods. She couldn’t access any of the internals to cut the power.

  “Kali, what are you doing up there?” Royce called up to her.

  “Trying to get a look at what we’re dealing with, Roy.” She descended and landed near Royce. “I was hoping maybe some Seraphim could fly up and work while flying.”

  “That won’t work. You’d be likely to bump something. Maybe kill the occupant or yourself.”

  “That too, but I have small wingspan, and I can’t fit up there so a larger Seraphim wouldn’t fit any better.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “I am not sure. You’re sure that if the stasis retrieval system activates it will cause that explosive device to go off?”

  “Yes, and what is worse is if we attempt to deactivate it, all the pods will fail.”

  “That is an ingenious trap. I am so angry that whoever did this is just sitting a few decks up relaxing while we’re down here panicking,” Kali said.

  “Who said anything about panicking?”

  “I did. I am not sure you’ve been keeping up Royce. We have two impossible things to decide between. Kill everyone or kill everyone. I don’t even know who is going to get out of these pods.”

  “I heard about the first one who woke up. I am sorry to hear he is in a coma.”

  “I am sure that isn’t easy for you either. You saved his life in my opinion.”

  “Well, I appreciate that. I can’t wait until all of these people are out of stasis. I’ll feel a lot better.”

  “Me too. How much time we do have?”

  “Till?”

  “Either they fail, or the bomb goes off.”

  “Well, the bomb won’t go off unless we use the pod retrieval system. The pods should hold for another few days. That is when they’re scheduled to wake.”

  “OK. You and your team get some rest. I have some work to do,” Kali said walking out. She headed to the brig. She knew that they’d have somebody waiting for her to interrogate.

  _ _ _

  When Kali walked into the brig, Bruce said, “Just put her in the first room on the right.”

  “Thanks, Bruce.”

  “You’re welcome, Commander.”

  She smiled, still getting used to the title. The smile lingered as she entered the room.

  “What are you smiling about?”

  “Well, it’s nice to see you too.”

  “I wouldn’t say that. Why are you doing this?”

  “Doing what?”

  “Taking over our ship. I don’t trust you.”

  “I don’t require your trust.”

  “Well good, you’re not getting it. Now tell me, why are you doing this?”

  “Let’s set some ground rules, shall we?” Kali said. “First, I am your Commander, and you’ll treat me as such. Second, I’ll ask the questions. If you have any questions, you may hold them until the end.”

  “This a joke!” the Seraphim stood and spread her wings.

  “I’d put those away and sit down if I were you,” Kali warned.

  “Or what?”

  “Or you’re going to be answering my questions in a lot of pain. I’d suggest you sit.”

  “I am not going to. What are you going to do about it?”

  “Nothing,” Kali said.

  “You coward. I knew it.”

  “Oh, that’s so not the case. Bruce, subdue our friend here,” Kali said.

  On Kali’s command, a high-frequency sound burst focused directly at the standing Seraphim which caused her to cry out in agony. She gripped her ears trying to keep the sound out.

  “Make it stop!” the woman cried between screams.

  “That’s enough, Bruce,” Kali said. The woman’s hands still clung to her ears, and she glowered at Kali.

  “So, are you willing to do this my way? Or do you need some more motivation?”

  “You are a coward. You use the…” Kali nodded, and Bruce turned the sonic submission device back on. The woman fell to her knees. She tucked her head down and tried to wrap her wings around herself.

  After almost a minute Kali said, “Enough Bruce. Lock her up,” Kali got up and walked out.

  _ _ _

  Kali headed back to the cargo hold, and as she rounded the corner to enter the stasis pod storage room, she paused. She looked around. “Huh,” she said aloud.

  She felt the presence of someone lurking in the shadows but didn’t see anything. She kept walking into the room. She ascended up to the suspended stasis pods again.

  She slowly flew through the aisles of pods trying to see who may be in each pod. The pod's thick glass and frozen interior made it difficult to discern one face from another.

  She landed and tried to sort through the different aisles of pods on the ground. She couldn’t make these out either. One pod caught her eye.

  She didn’t know for sure, but she believed she found Ryn’s pod. Relief washed over her. She needed to find the other members of his team.

  She walked past one pod after another. After several minutes, she successfully found each of the pods for their team. She realized that the fact that their team went into stasis first, and that they had so many less personnel in stasis, their pods ended up on the bottom of the storage racks.

  This made Kali ecstatic. On her way out of the storage room, she felt the strange lurking presence again, “Is anyone there?” she said aloud.

  She looked around, and again determined nobody hid trying to surprise or harm her. Must be the people in the pods she thought.

  Chapter 26

  Bruce walked into the holding room. “Who is next?”

  “Now’s your chance,” Aleksandra said.

  “I’ll go,” Novalie said.

  “Come on, don’t take all day,” Bruce said.

  Novalie maneuvered her way through the crowd and followed Bruce out of the room. They made their way to the brig. He motioned for her to enter an interrogation room.

  She stood beside the table. She looked around the room. She knew the room recorded everything. She said, “If I don’t get another chance, Kali, you need to record every female’s voice and have the man who woke from stasis listen to them all. He may identify the voice, and you can catch them.”

  “I hope that helps,” Novalie said after a short pause. She finally sat and waited.

  After several minutes Kali walked in. “Nova?”

  “Kali! I left a message for you in the surveillance. You need to record a
ll the female voices and have the guy who woke from stasis listen. If nothing else have him listen to the audio of their interrogations,” Nova said.

  “Fantastic idea but, I can’t do that. He is in medical and has regressed into a coma. I’ve been told that sometimes happen after long term stasis.”

  “That’s terrible news. I hope he is going to be ok.”

  “The medics assure me they’ll give him the best care they can. So how are all of the women handling it?”

  “Well, the first woman you spoke with. Her and I got into it pretty much the second we walked in.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, she accused the Commander of not caring about her and then she started saying you were the enemy.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Just that you weren’t our enemy. The Commander actually shut it down before it got any further. Trust me, I was about to let her have it.”

  “I bet. Anything else interesting?”

  “Not really. Most of them are sitting alone keeping to themselves. I think they don’t want to be guilty by association. You know?”

  “Oh, I can see that. I don’t want you to think you’re really a suspect. I trust that you wouldn’t spend seven months trying to become my friend just to betray me and kill everyone I am here to protect.”

  “Uh, no.”

  “I had to ask.”

  “I know.”

  “So, I think I should keep you a little while making the others sweat it out a little. So, what do you think about going back in there in like 20 minutes?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Nova said.

  “Do you know the crew well?”

  “Mostly just keep to myself, especially after that brig incident.”

  “Well, do you know or think you may know anyone who would identify or be sympathetic with the gendercide?”

  “If I had to pick someone I’d pick any Seraphim on this ship. They’re all warriors who are tired of losing loved ones. If they have to sacrifice the males in their lives to never lose anyone again I think they’d do it.”

  “I never thought of it as a sacrifice.”

  “I mean it really it is. The gendercide fanatics view it as the needs of the many versus the needs of the few. For me, if I killed one or two males close to me that may suck. However, what if that relative of mine started a war because they chased after some Seraphim?”

  “You sure you’re not a mole?”

  “Yes. I am the communication’s chief. I have to listen to their propaganda all of the time. It’s disgusting, and despite the fact that it is supposed to be filtered out it still gets through.”

  “OK, so what else should I know about them then?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If you hear their propaganda you may know more, what else do you know?”

  “Well for starters, they aren’t afraid of exposing themselves. Apparently, this Ms. Black who is like the unofficial face of their movement has agreed to pay any legal fees associated with gendercide attacks.”

  “Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve tried so hard to find out who that is. If we could trace the metal back to her.”

  “Why do you think we use metal, Kali?”

  “Cause it’s rather untraceable. Good point. You should do this more. I think you’d be a good investigator.”

  “Well, I’ve had a few millennia to get it right.”

  “Yeah, yeah, Kali the newborn I get it.”

  “Oh, despite your young age you’ve been through a lot. I think a lot of people respect you more than fear you, and that should make you pretty happy.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Kali said

  “You guess?” Nova said, “What do you mean you guess? You’re practically an infant and you’re in command of a starship. A Razian ship and you’re not even Razian! You’re pretty impressive, little bird.”

  “Oh, for the sake of my sanity please don’t call me that.”

  “What? I think it is cute. Fits you quite well. You’re little, you fly like a bird, and of course you’re adorable.”

  “I am not adorable. I am the commander of a starship like you said.”

  “Oooh, yes, of course, Domina, right away, Domina, don’t let me insult you, Domina,” Nova said through giggles.

  “Oh hush you!”

  “Terrifying!” Nova said, laughing hysterically.

  “What am I going to do with you? I guess I’ll just make you sit here until you wipe that smirk off your face. Can’t have you going back into that room all giggles.”

  “Oh, you’re right. I need to reign it in, or I’ll never stop,” Nova said.

  “Well, in the meantime I am going to go check on our stasis pods,” Kali said walking out of the room. “Bruce, make sure she stays in there for at least 15 more minutes before she is escorted back to the room.”

  “Understood, Commander,” Bruce said.

  Chapter 27

  Eve waited in her office for the prisoner to come to her. Lawrence, if she remembered correctly. Several minutes passed. Those minutes turned into half an hour. She couldn’t wait any longer.

  “How long does it take to release a prisoner on my authority?” Eve shouted through her intercom.

  “I will check on his status, Triumvir,” her assistant responded.

  Eve started pacing her in office. Something she never did. Why did she fail to see it? ‘Are they really together? Right under my nose?’ Eve thought to herself.

  She couldn’t settle down at the thought that she sat idly by while her counterparts clearly committed treason. They killed her husband. At least by proxy.

  “He’s being released now and should be here in a few minutes, Triumvir,” her assistant said through the intercom.

  “About time. I mean, thank you,” Eve said. She tried to treat those around her with dignity and grace, but sometimes her emotions got the best of her.

  Eve made her way back to her desk and sat down. She tried to look as though she hadn’t spent almost an hour waiting on this man. She pulled up her messages and tried to sort through them.

  None of them seemed important at the moment. She knew she’d regret it later, passing over so many messages and not acting on them. Her mind wandered elsewhere, though, and she couldn’t focus on them.

  Finally, Lawrence walked into her office. “Lawrence, right?” Eve said with a smile.

  “Yes, Triumvir?” he said.

  “I am glad you’re here. I have some questions for you.”

  “Why? You don’t believe me.”

  “Because you see, I have to consider these accusations carefully before I can act on them. I’ve done some preliminary inquiry into your, um theories, and I believe you may be onto something.”

  “What changed your mind? I am not trying to go back there.”

  “You won’t have to, but I couldn’t let you roam free with these thoughts in your head, accurate or not. I believe you were telling the truth. At least what you perceived to be the truth.”

  “What do you mean, perceived to be?” Lawrence said, “I saw them together. I know what I heard, Triumvir.”

  “Of course. Would you be able to tell me any more?”

  “Well, I can tell you that they had an argument. Triumvir Attor doesn’t think he should have to bend to the will of the people. He even thinks the gendercide is the will of the people.”

  “Interesting. I approached him about it, and I believe he reacted the same way to me,” Eve said.

  “So you starting to see what I mean, Triumvir?” Lawrence said.

  “Yes. I need you to keep quiet, though. There are two of them and one of me. I am still fairly unpopular with the pure Ascendant and Razian populations. For me to bring these accusations would certainly cause a problem,” Eve said.

  “I understand, Triumvir. What would you have me do in the mean time?”

  “Just do whatever you do. I don’t know what that is, but I hope it keeps you clear of the other, Triumvirs,” Eve said.

  Chap
ter 28

  Several hours passed, and Kali had interrogated almost every female aboard the Dawnbreaker. She felt that she’d never determine who sabotaged the stasis system. Frustrated, she decided to take some of that out on the first woman she questioned.

  “Bruce, put the woman in the brig into an interrogation room,” Kali said.

  “Yes, Commander,” Bruce said. He went to retrieve her and Kali sat watching the surveillance of the empty room she’d enter. After a few minutes, Bruce and the Seraphim entered the room.

  Kali stood and headed for the interrogation room. She entered just as Bruce left. She walked past the woman and sat opposite of her. “How’s that iron constitution of yours?”

  “I am not talking to you.”

  “You just did.”

  “Not after that.”

  “You did it again.”

  The woman didn’t fall for it a third time. She stared at the floor, holding her head in her hands. Kali sat staring at her, holding her temper as long as she could manage.

  Finally, it burst forth, and she lashed out. “That’s it. Enough nice Kali. You want to see what my reputation is made of, you got it.” Kali pushed the table to the side of the room and surged forward.

  She kicked the chair out from underneath her and caught the woman in the face with her knee. Her head snapped backward. Blood splattered on Kali.

  “Oh, no, you, didn’t. I don’t like it when people bleed on me. Kind of makes me angry.”

  Kali grabbed a handful of the woman hair and drug her across the room to under the table. She flipped the table so that it landed on her chest.

  “Start talking,” Kali ordered.

  The woman just stared blankly at Kali.

  “Have it your way.” Kali pulled the table, so it rested on the woman’s neck. “I am not asking again. I am going to kill you,” Kali warned.

  “You don’t have the guts!” she spat at Kali spewing more blood on her.

  Kali pressed the table down. The woman flailed helplessly. Her face turned colors, her eyes bulged. Her movements slowed. Kali picked up the table and let it slam down on the woman’s abdomen.

  She gasped, trying to catch her breath. “You’re crazy, you psychopath!” the woman said between choking fits.