Captain Dan Saves Beta Earth

by Jeffrey Henning

  "I'll be your First Officer, Captain Daniels." Amaya said before he left.

  Her acceptance stopped him cold. He walked to the doorway, looking like a fool unsure of what to do next. "Twang, give her the proper codes." He said over his shoulder as he left. He heard Twang say, "Yes, Captain.", before he made it down the hall and into his quarters. He shut the door quickly and leaned against it, finally letting out a breath.

  He tapped a button on the wall near the door without looking.

  "Yes, Captain?" Belladi's voice answered.

  "Assemble the crew on the bridge in six hours." He said out loud.

  "Of course, Captain." Her voice paused for a moment. "Do you require counseling?" She asked quietly.

  "No!" Dan shouted as he hit his fist against the button that called her.

  He walked over to his bed and fell onto it, face first.

  * * * * *

  Dan walked onto his bridge after taking a nap and showering. He also had a snack, which consisted of Rhino Meat's summer sausage line - no Nutri-Slushi's for him, he couldn't tolerate the stuff. In the six hours he was away, Amaya had reported that everything was set for their incursion into the Beta Sector. His entire crew was there: Belladi - who was actually wearing decent clothing and not some skimpy outfit; Twang - who had never left; Too'Zer - wearing his battle armor, weapons belts, and carrying his large rifle; Watts - who was furiously tapping on his multiple consoles; and Bort and Dort - each carrying their salvaging equipment harnesses. Even his extended crew was there: Space Admiral and now First Officer Amaya stood next to his chair - wearing a crisp UPA uniform (god only knows where she got a crisp uniform) with body armor and carrying her UPA issued pistol; and Lieutenant Melton, standing beside Watts - he was only wearing his normal UPA uniform. It was a rare site to have any UPA on his bridge, let alone the Space Admiral.

  "Crew of the Heatseeker," Dan started as he came to stand behind his chair. "We're about to do something we don't normally do. We're about to save the UPA from a madman." He looked at Amaya and she smiled and nodded to him. "We're going to do a three-fold attack. Twang will use a burst from the new engine to give us a push towards the station. To Kirk, it'll look like we're just drifting towards the station. He'll undoubtedly attempt to connect to us and move us out of the path of Beta's station. When that fails, he'll attempt to shoot us down. When we're fifty kilometers from BES1, Too'Zer will fire the missile that's loaded with a virus that should shut down Beta's defenses. Kirk will attempt to move another ship in it's path, which will give us time to put the new engine at full and attempt to board the station. I'll be the first on the station with Too'Zer, and we'll attempt to take out Kirk. Failing that, Bort and Dort will take down the generators."

  "And salvage on our way back, Captain?" Bort asked, with a smile and a lot of nods from Dort.

  "Not this time. Take out the power to the stations then make your way back to the Heatseeker." Dan told them.

  "Awwww." Dort said.

  "I'm sure we'll be well compensated for helping the UPA." Dan told them, which cheered them up immensely.

  "And what am I, Watts, Belladi, and the Space Admiral to do?" Lieutenant Melton asked.

  "You and Watts will be in the engine room making sure we can get the hell out of here if we fail. Amaya will be in command of the ship in my absence, and Belladi will back her up with anything she needs." Dan told them.

  "I should be coming with you." Amaya told him. "You may need my codes."

  "We already have them." Watts said with a snicker.

  "What?!" Amaya asked in surprise.

  "What?" Watts asked.

  "We get your new codes every time you change them - though we've never used them yet." Dan said. "I keep them for emergencies only." Dan said, raising his hands a little.

  "How?" was all she could ask.

  Dan pulled up his sleeve, revealing three implants. "I figure it's the price for what the UPA did to me." He said quietly.

  She folded her arms across her chest. "Did you get them while we were dating too?" She asked.

  "Yes." Dan said. "Can we continue, or do you need some time to cry?"

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  Dan walked around and sat in his chair, pushing a couple buttons on the arm of his chair. "This course should take us where we need to go." a map of the sector came up on all the displays on the bridge, showing the Heatseeker at it's current location near the blue sun, and the path to the station, which wove around several floating dots on the screens. "I've already had to adjust it three times due to the disabled ships and debris floating between us and the station."

  "If we take that path, he'll know we have navigation control." Amaya said, still angry about her codes.

  "It's unavoidable. The ships are somehow orbiting the station like a moving shield." Dan said as he pointed towards the dots. He tapped a few more buttons and dotted lines showed the floating ships orbits around the station. "In order to get through them, we'll need to navigate - or we'll collide with the third one. every time."

  "I've attempted to plot a straight path through, Space Admiral, but there is no straight path to the station without colliding with something between us." Twang added.

  Amaya looked at the map. "Can you plot the courses of all the derelict ships in the path?"

  "Of course, Space Admiral." Twang said as he typed on the console. More dotted lines filled up the screen, each showing a path of the ships around the station.

  "He's moving them in order to keep anyone from getting to the station." Amaya said as she pointed to the lines.

  "Great, one more thing to worry about." Watts mumbled.

  "Can you show the times of the course corrections of the ships around the station?" Amaya asked again. Dan saw where she was going.

  "Of course, Space Admiral." Twang said again and typed in a few commands on his console.

  Amaya got close to one of the monitors. "All the times are different."

  "He can't control more than one thing at a time." Belladi noted. "That's good to know."

  "Unless he can, and he is only being lazy in moving the ships." Watts said, looking at the screens. "How do we know he isn't controlling other things at the same time? You’re only basing this point on the movement of the ships. We have no information on all the other systems."

  "Another good point." Dan added. "There is a way to confirm this theory."

  Everyone in the room looked at him. "How?" Amaya asked, the only one to speak up.

  "Twang, can you predict when the next couple ship movements would be?" Dan asked.

  "Of course, Captain." Twang said, pushing a few more buttons. "The next three ship movements will happen in the next hour. Two of them will happen within three minutes of each other."

  "Good, track those ships, I'll go talk to Kirk when they are supposed to happen. Knowing if he can do multiple tasks in the UPA network is worth the risk."

  "What do you mean 'you'll go talk to him'?" Amaya asked.

  "Captain, it looks like the next movement will be in seven minutes and thirty seconds." Twang said over Amaya.

  Amaya grabbed Dan's Arm. "What aren't you telling us?"

  "He's going to use his implants girl." Watts said in frustration.

  "That's too dangerous!" Amaya said quickly, looking Dan in the eyes. "You can't..."

  "I did it before. He seemed more intent to recruit me." Dan said, shrugging off her arm. "Perhaps I can get an opening in the ship rotation."

  "And perhaps he could kill you in there." She told him in front of everyone.

  "Doubtful, like I said, he seems more likely to try to recruit me in murdering everyone in the UPA. We can use that against him." Dan said.

  "Trevor..." Amaya said quietly.

  "I'll be okay." He assured her. "And if I'm not, I want you to implement the plan I've laid out."

  She looked at him sadly but knew she wouldn't change his mind. She couldn't when they were together, and she couldn't now. "Fine. But if you die, I'm
keeping your ship." She said as she turned away and climbed into the Captain's chair. She entered her new First Officer credentials and got almost full control of the ship. "Twang, keep an eye on the derelict ships. Watts, Lieutenant Melton, I want the engines spun up. Bort and Dort, get your tools ready. And you may want Mag-boots for when the power goes out on the station - gravity will be one of the first things to go. Too'Zer, prepare to fire the missile. Belladi, do a systems check. I want this ship at peak performance in the next thirty minutes!" She barked.

  For a moment everyone stood around, not following orders.

  "Captain Dan has promoted her to First Officer." Twang said.

  Everyone moved at once. Dan was glad that he was halfway into his room, since they all rushed down the small hallway. He smiled as he closed the door. He pushed the button next to his door before he walked over to his bed.

  "This is Amaya." came her voice over the speaker in the bare ceiling.

  "I'm heading in, be ready to monitor those ships." Dan said to her.

  "We're already doing so." She said.

  Dan smiled. She would do well on his ship - if she stayed.

  "Good luck in there, Trevor." Her voice told him through the speaker. He knew she meant it.

  * * * * *

  Dan stood in the same room he once viewed through cameras using a hologram emitter. He stood right behind Kirk.

  "Hello again, Trevor." Kirk said in his robotic voice. "I gave you a sixty-three percent chance of returning." He turned around, his face in the shadows of his hood. "I am glad you decided on the hologram emitters, though I am disappointed you never finished the project and are missing quite a few of your implants."

  "I've been removing them. By now you've figured out that they are poisoning your blood." Dan said. He was unsure of what to do with his hands, so instinctively he rested one on his pistol, and put the other in his coat pocket.

  "Yes, I made Dopsusophene to help you with that." Kirk said.

  Dan cocked his head. "You made Dopsusophene?" He asked.

  "Of course. Do you think the UPA would make something to cure you of what they did to you after we fled? They wanted you to die." Kirk said, angrily.

  "And you wanted me to live?" Dan asked, curious now.

  "I did not want you to be another victim of the UPA." He told Dan.

  "Why care about me, but not all the innocents you're killing to get revenge on the UPA?" Dan asked.

  "Because you're the only one who understands what I'm doing."

  "I understand you're murdering people."

  "And they didn't murder us?" He asked.

  Dan noticed he was losing his temper. "We were saved, by the Space Admiral of all people. Everyone involved went to prison. I checked to make sure they are staying in prison." Dan told him. "I checked just before coming here." He didn't, but Kirk wouldn't know that.

  "They are all dead. I destroyed the prison."

  "You WHAT?!" Dan shouted in reply.

  "They needed to die, and you know it." Kirk told him.

  "They were serving life sentences! You gave them the easy out!" Dan shouted in reply.

  "It needed to be done."

  "No, it didn't. You can't run around killing people just because you have the ability to." Dan said as he shook his head.

  "This is what we were made for, Trevor. The UPA turned us into assassins."

  "I'm not an assassin. You can be more than what they made you." Dan said, almost pleading. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this conversation up. He knew there was no way he could convince this man to go straight.

  "Then join me. Together we can rule the galaxy."

  "Rule through murder?" Dan asked. "No thanks." he said as he crossed his arms.

  "This will be the only time I ask, Trevor."

  "So, it's your way or death?" Dan asked.

  Kirk cocked his head. "Yes."

  Dan could almost see a smile under his mask. "You're insane." He felt a tingling in his brain, like a mosquito attacking. "What are you doing?"

  "Locating your ship, of course."

  Dan disconnected from the network as quickly as possible - it only took a few seconds. Then he sat up as quickly as possible and slammed the communication key above his bed. "Move the ship!" he yelled before anyone could answer.

  He hoped it was fast enough.

  Chapter 7

  "Why are we moving the ship?" Amaya asked loudly while looking back down the short hall. She had moved the ship immediately following the Captain's warning.

  "He was tracking it, through me." Dan said as he entered the bridge.

  Amaya finished spinning the Captain's chair around to face him.

  Dan cocked his head. "Has the chair always spun like that?"

  "Yes Captain." Twang said from the front.

  Amaya stood up and offered him his chair. Dan took it and spun around to face forward. "Anything out of the ordinary happening?" He asked as he felt around the bottom of the chair for the swivel mechanism.

  "The ships around the station left their orbits immediately after you contacted the bridge. They are scanning the blind spots in Beta Sector's sensors." Twang said. "I have moved the Heatseeker to a lower orbit. Watts reports we can hold this position indefinitely, so long as the new engine stays on."

  "How much closer to the sun can we get without getting hurt?" Amaya asked as she turned to the monitors.

  "Any closer and the heat shield will start to melt, as we cannot bleed off that much heat." Twang said.

  Dan checked the sensors. "It doesn't matter, I know the two ships he sent after us, neither can get within sensor range without melting." he told them.

  "But now we can't leave without being spotted, which throws our plan into the recyclers." Amaya said.

  Twang turned in his chair to face them. "But we learned that Kirk Sparks cannot multitask as much as we first assumed." He told them.

  "Or he can multitask more than we assumed because he's playing us." Amaya said.

  "It is difficult to say whether or not he can multitask as either of us suggest. More data is needed." Twang said.

  "If we continue with the plan now, I'm sure you'll get the data you need." Amaya said. She looked back to Dan. "You're being awfully quiet."

  Dan pushed a button on his console. "Too'Zer." He said.

  "Captain." Too'Zer said in his deep voice over the comms.

  "Prepare four of the missiles we acquired." Dan told him. He was forming a new plan.

  "Yes Captain." Too'Zer told him.

  "What are the missiles for?" Amaya asked.

  "In case you haven't noticed, there are two UPA scout ships looking for us." Dan told her.

  "You can't destroy them! There are innocents on board!" Amaya argued.

  Dan glared at her. "Would you rather us die? I'm trying to save the entire sector, possibly even the entire galaxy. How many ships are susceptible to his control, Amaya? Two ships is an acceptable loss."

  "There are currently four hundred and seventeen ships that have the code which is susceptible to your implants." Twang interjected.

  "Shut up Twang!" Amaya yelled back. "If you do this, how are you different than him?"

  Dan looked at her calmly. "Are you done?"

  "How dare you!" She yelled as she turned to stalk off.

  Dan shook his head, trying to forget that he asked her to be his First Officer.

  Bort and Dort watched as she stalked to her temporary room.

  "Wanna’ bet she and the Captain will 'make up'?" Bort said while using air quotes.

  Dort Smiled and tapped a few buttons on his wrist-console to enter his bet. To his surprise, Watts had made a bet as well.

  * * * * *

  Belladi stood outside the Space Admiral's temporary room, waiting for her to answer her door. When there was no answer, she slid it open slowly and revealed no one. She walked inside, asking, "Space Admiral Amaya?"

  "Did your Captain send you?" Amaya said from the opposite side of the bed. The
room wasn't that big, and had only a bed, a small dresser, and a shower and sink. The bed was turned so that she faced the window that took up most of the side. Unfortunately, when the heat shields were in place, you couldn't see out of it, so she was just staring at a wall.

  "No, I came on my own, Space Admiral." She said with a nod of her head.

  "Why are you here, Belladi?" Amaya asked.

  Belladi saw her wipe her eyes. "I just thought you might need to talk. That is my purpose aboard this vessel."

  "I've heard your purpose goes well beyond talking, Belladi." Amaya said angrily.

  "Sometimes it does, yes. Would you like that?" She asked.

  "No!" Amaya said quickly. She turned her head and gave a disgusted look. Belladi noticed her eyes were red.

  "You should know that Captain Dan and I never went beyond talking." She told the crying woman.

  "Why would I care?" Amaya asked with a sniffle.

  "You and the Captain were close once, and it's obvious you still have feelings for him." Belladi said.

  "I do not have feelings for him." Amaya said defiantly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  "If you say so." Belladi said. "May I sit?" She asked.

  It took Amaya a minute or so to realize how rude she had been. She jumped up and pointed to the edge of the bed. "Of course, I'm so sorry."

  "You are forgiven. We often forget our manners when we are focused on more important matters." She said as she took a seat where Amaya had pointed. She rearranged her outfit to cover her skin so as not to upset Amaya further.

  "You have taken your pill?" Amaya asked.

  "No, why do you ask?" Belladi answered.

  Amaya cocked her head. "Shouldn't I be attracted to you?" She quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure how Pluaggi... chemistry... works."

  "It's okay." She said with a small smile. "My 'chemistry', as you call it, only works on people who are weak to the emotion of love, and lust. Most humans have too many emotions going on at once and therefore are immune to my pheromones."