Morre pushed himself up from the floor, his face full of fury. He took a step forward and with it came a blast of his own power. He pushed Liza up against the wall, and her head bumped the ceiling. Morre held her in place as he approached her, moving around the mess in the office.
“How many times do I have to tell you? You are weak!” Liza laughed.
“Then why are you so afraid of me?” she called down. He growled low and pushed against her harder, until the pressure touched Liza’s bones.
“What gave you that idea?” he snarled. Liza laughed despite the pain. With effort, she pushed back against him until his control over her broke, and she slipped to the floor.
“I’m not stupid,” Liza said. “I’ve been watching you.”
Morre grinned.
“And I you.”
They stared at each other for a moment, silence hanging between them. An uncomfortable feeling crawled up Liza’s spine. She pushed her power at him and knocked him backward. “I could kill you,” he said from the floor. Liza scoffed.
“I’ve already lived longer than I expected to. I hardly think you could stop me now,” she said. Morre looked up, a wicked grin on his face.
“Oh, I think I could. You see,” he said, pushing himself back up. “I received some interesting information. It seems that we have located your sister, the Tranquil. Before long, we’ll have her here, and once you two have been properly brainwashed and put under our control, you’ll be mine whether you want to or not.”
Liza froze. It had to have been Zimir. She stormed over to Morre, arcs of power escaping her hold, blowing the room into further chaos. She reached out and grabbed his uniform. He was taller than her, so she yanked him down, closer to her face.
“You monsters will never lay a hand on my sister,” she growled. With all the energy left in her body, her anger, her frustration, her hate, she pushed against him. He slipped from her grip and hit the wall. She could feel his mind bending, but he threw up his own mental defenses before he could Snap. When Liza released her hold, he crumpled to the floor, one of his arms twisted in an unnatural direction.
Liza could hear him groaning and struggling to push himself over. “You cannot stop me,” she said when she crouched down next to him. He opened his eyes and… smiled.
“Apparently not,” he said, laughing a little. A trickle of blood trailed down the side of his mouth. Liza frowned. “You are a lost young woman; you hold tightly to your convictions. And there’s no way I can convince you to fight for the good guys?”
“I hardly believe you to be the ‘good guys,’” Liza said. “I’ve seen the horrors the SSA condones. And honestly, I’m surprised you work for them, after what I saw.” Morre’s smile disappeared.
“Not all of us have a choice,” he replied.
“Yes, we do.” Out of pity, Liza helped Morre into a mostly upright position against the wall, his arm cradled against his chest. With his good hand, he reached out and touched her hair. Liza frowned.
“You are going to escape,” he said.
“Probably tonight. After this, how could I not?”
Morre smiled.
“You’ll be a full-blown pirate then, won’t you Miss Strange?” he asked. She couldn’t help the grin that formed on her face.
“I suppose.” Morre closed his eyes against a wave of pain.
“It was Captain Shad Warwick and Zimir Tchesova who contacted me. They’ve been kidnapping Psychogens for years,” Morre said. Liza was hardly surprised. The ‘for years’ part was what disturbed her the most. It meant that her kidnapping by the SSA wasn’t just a one-off situation.
“Bastards.”
“Kill them, Liza,” Morre said. “If you want. They certainly deserve it.”
“I don’t need your permission,” Liza said.
“No, but you have it anyway. Use your SSA identification to keep yourself from getting arrested afterward,” he said.
“Why are you letting me leave?” Liza asked. Morre shrugged his shoulders with difficulty.
“Don’t worry about it. Now go. Before long, someone will be here, then you’ll never get out of here alive.” Liza stared into his eyes for a moment, then rose up. She looked around the room and saw his communication lync embedded on the wall. The screen was cracked, but Liza was willing to bet that it still worked. She turned it on and tapped in the numbers to the only other communicator lync she knew: her room on The Gypsy Star. Weed and Speed had set it up for her. When no one answered immediately, she left a recorded message, hoping someone would see it.
“Goodbye, Colonel Morre,” she said after she opened the door to his office.
“Goodbye, Liza Strange.”
47
As the nightly party dwindled, the crew of the Gypsy Star returned to the docking ports. They met Captain Warwick on the way, who stopped them.
“We’re leaving here tomorrow,” he said, glancing at everyone. “Take care of whatever outstanding business you have.” The crew nodded, and Warwick passed by them, heading back down into the Cove. The crew, all mostly bleary eyed with alcohol, continued on their way up to the ship.
Vely yawned, ready to crash in bed for the night. She said good night to Becce and Dom and headed towards her room. When the door opened, for a moment before the lights switched on, Vely saw a blinking green light from across the room. Curious, she made her way over. The light was coming from the communication lync. She had assumed the thing didn’t work. Vely poked at the screen and it lit up, asking for a password. She frowned. The room had belonged to Liza. What would Liza use as a password?
Not feeling confident, Vely punched in the word ‘Strange.’ Wrong. She punched in Liza’s first name. Wrong. Vely frowned, thinking. On a whim, she punched in her own name. The screen lit up and passed her through to the main access screen. Vely smiled.
An icon flashed, indicating that a new message had arrived. Vely stared at it for a moment, wondering who would contact Liza on this ship that she hadn’t spent much time on. Or maybe… Hope and excitement jumped into Vely’s throat.
Vely touched the icon and the screen went dark for a moment. Vely’s breath hitched in her chest when Liza’s face filled the screen. Her face was fuller, but there was pain in her eyes. She looked tousled and beat up, like she’d been fighting. The text in the bottom corner indicated that the message had been sent only a few hours ago.
“Vely, or someone, I hope you find this. I’m with the SSA, though I don’t know exactly which colony I’m on. After Zimir had us kidnapped, we were brought here to be brainwashed and trained in the SSA’s Supersensory division. But I’m escaping tonight with Cedrick and another Katho. Once we commandeer a ship, I’ll send another message to this lync.” She paused a moment and glanced back over her shoulder, then back at the screen. “I hope you’re alright, Vely. I’ll be with you soon.”
The message ended, and the screen changed. Vely stared at it for a moment, processing. Liza was alive, and she was escaping wherever she was being held. And they would find each other again. Vely was determined not to be separated again.
She had to tell someone. Spinning around, she dashed from her room and down the hall to Dom’s room. She hoped that he wasn’t already asleep. Knocking on the door, she tapped her foot impatiently, whispering to herself, “Be awake. Be awake. Be awake.” A moment later, the door slid open, revealing Dom. He was halfway undressed. His eyebrow raised.
“Something wrong, Vely?” he asked.
“I got a message from Liza!” Dom was slow to react. Vely watched his face as he realized what she’d said, and surprise took over. Dom reached out and grabbed Vely’s shoulders.
“You did? How?”
“The communication lync in her room. She was able to send a message to it,” Vely explained. Dom frowned, thinking. He released her shoulders and rose back up.
“I wonder if the twins…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Show me!” Vely led the way back to her room, where she played the message for Dom. Standi
ng to the side, she watched him as he pressed his fingers to her face on the screen. I wonder if Cedrick is thinking about me, she thought, then mentally scolded herself. Cedrick had a lot of explaining to do if he wanted her forgiveness.
The message ended and Dom looked to Vely. “You will let me know the moment you receive another message from her, won’t you?” he asked.
“Of course,” Vely said with a nod. Dom exhaled and a small smile formed on his lips.
“I’m so glad she’s okay,” he added, more to himself than to Vely. She said nothing, allowing him to relish in this happy news. “Get some sleep,” he said after a moment. “We will have some busy days ahead of us.” He winked and let the room, the door closing behind him. Vely grinned.
As Vely prepared for bed, she wondered what her parents would say if they knew their daughters had become pirates. Some part of her mind thought that they wouldn’t be surprised.
Vely awoke to a loud signal playing over the intercom system. She pushed herself up in bed and rubbed at her eyes. “All hands,” Dom’s voice said. “We’re preparing to undock.”
Vely had no idea what she was supposed to do, but she dressed anyway and headed for the bridge. Most of the crew was already assembled. Dom and Captain Warwick were going over their first route while Becce was in the cockpit, adjusting a few controls from the pilot’s seat. The twins were already seated in the chairs around the outer rim of the room, waiting for takeoff. Corbin passed around cups of synthetic coffee to clear up the haze in their heads. Vely took one and sipped it slowly, enjoying the sprightly feeling in her muscles.
The rest of the crew arrived. “Let’s get going. We’re heading for a Walnad Transport Rad station. We’ll be able to pick off a few of their ships there, then FTL to their Alpha Centauri wormhole,” Warwick said, glancing at Weed and Speed, who grinned. “Trip should take about thirty earth-hours.” Warwick turned to Becce. “Let’s go.”
The crew fastened their seat harnesses. Warwick and Dom passed through the door separating the bridge from the cockpit. Just as the engines were powering up, Zimir entered the bridge and sat down beside Doctor D. He looked tired, which seemed strange to Vely. She assumed he functioned off and endless supply of evil.
Vely closed her eyes and pictured Liza’s face from the message while the ship shuddered away from the docking bay. She wondered how soon it would be until Liza could get away from the SSA and join them.
Once the ship was at cruising speed, an alarm announced the FTL jump and began the countdown. Vely closed her eyes, bracing herself and her stomach against the lurching unpleasantness of the jump. It only lasted a moment, and when it was over, the cockpit door opened once more. Warwick and Dom stepped back into the bridge. The atmosphere in the room grew tense. Vely glanced at the others, and saw they were glancing around as well. Doctor D’s hands were twitching in his lap while Dom gave dark, sidelong glances at Warwick. Was Dom going to initiate the mutiny already? Vely didn’t have any weapons on her. The moment seemed right, but this didn’t give Dom any of the time he needed to get important information from Warwick.
A heavy silence fell in the room. Warwick glanced around, a frown on his face. Dom looked indecisive, and it was clear to Vely that he couldn’t make up his mind. The atmosphere in the room thickened, until Warwick spoke.
“What’s the matter with all of you?” Thankfully, Corbin was thinking on his feet.
“Little sad to be leavin’ the Cove,” he said with a sheepish grin. Warwick chuckled, and Dom visibly relaxed. Vely breathed out a sigh. The mutiny wasn’t happening yet, but Dom was anxious to get it over with. That much was clear.
The atmosphere on the ship remained tense after leaving the Cove, the crew waiting for indication from Dom about when the begin the mutiny. Vely noticed that Dom was spending a lot of time with Warwick, presumably trying to weed as much information from him as possible. Whenever she saw Dom, she tried to get some idea of his progress, but his face remained impassive and grim.
About twenty hours into the trip to their location, Becce appeared at Vely’s door.
“Can I see the message from Liza?” she asked. Vely smiled and let the woman in her room. She played the message from Liza, and even Becce reached out to touch Liza’s face. Vely smiled, though she still wondered how her normally closed off and angry sister could have touched so many people on this ship so quickly. And a bunch of pirates, no less.
“She looks different,” Becce commented when the message ended. Vely nodded.
“She looks like she’s been eating well, so wherever she is, at least we know they’re not starving her,” Vely said. Becce nodded, but she wasn’t entirely convinced.
“There’s something in her eyes…” Becce said. She shook her head. “I guess we’ll find out when we find her.”
The thirty-hour trip wasn’t as daunting as Vely had thought. Their routine remained the same, during which Vely helped Doctor D with his research.
“You don’t seem much like a pirate,” Vely commented to him, taking notes on a tablet while Doctor D looked through a microscope. Doctor D looked up at her and smiled.
“I have my reasons for being here,” he said. “The SSA doesn’t like other people doing biological research.” Vely raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“They want to control all the information in the galaxy. As ridiculous as that sounds, they’ve done a fairly good job of it. They have a lot of control over the Sol Network, which means they can force other people to remove their information - on pain of death.” Vely grimaced.
“Are Walnad and the SSA the common enemies of the Galactic Syndicate?” she asked. Doctor D laughed.
“Aye, you could say that.” He paused for a moment. “You were on Mars, weren’t you?” Vely nodded. “Why do you think the SSA allows that kind of activity to continue?” Memories of the debauchery that occurred on that planet resurfaced. “Why do you think they haven’t taken control of the drug and prostitution rings?”
“Because… it keeps people from interfering with what the SSA is doing… if they’re too busy using drugs or… other things...” Vely said. Doctor D tapped his nose.
“For whatever reason, the SSA has never been able to get a firm hold on Mars. I suppose that planet tends to attract those who will not submit to the control of a non-regulated police force.”
“It’s not like they treated us like royalty on the Moon,” Vely said. “To anyone with half a brain, it was pretty obvious what the SSA was doing to us there. The problem was that our resources were so limited, there was literally nothing we could do about it.” Doctor D nodded. He was about to speak when a soft alarm sounded over the ship’s intercom system.
“We’ll talk about this more later. We’re almost at our destination,” he said.
Vely returned to the bridge. Captain Warwick was looking at a map on the holoprojector while Dom and Becce were still in the cockpit. Vely joined them and looked out the window. The ship was approaching a colony, though it had minimal traffic. There were only a few SSA ships drifting around.
“Where are we, exactly?” Vely asked.
“An SSA base that travels along Earth’s orbit,” Dom said.
“Why aren’t they attacking?”
“During our upgrade at the Cove, we got some newer cloaking technology. It’s not perfect and it doesn’t last long, but it will let us sneak up on them almost undetected,” Dom explained.
“Speaking of which,” Becce said, looking up at Dom. “It’s about to quit. We need to get ready, right now.”
“Captain!” Dom called, and Warwick entered the cockpit. “We need to prepare for an attack.” Warwick nodded and punched a button on the control panel. A different alarm began to blare.
“What should I do?” Vely asked.
“Strap in,” Dom said. Vely stepped back into the bridge and sat down in one of the chairs. From inside the cockpit, Vely heard Warwick speaking.
“Dom, Becce, you can leave this to me,” he said. There was
a moment of silence, then Dom said,
“But Captain…?”
“It’s alright,” he said. “I have a plan.” Vely frowned, and she heard the sounds of Becce and Dom moving across the floor. They both appeared in the bridge, looking annoyed. They leaned close to each other and whispered so low that Vely couldn’t be sure they were even speaking. They sat down and seemed to be conferring over something.
The door to the cockpit slammed closed. Vely flinched at the noise, while Dom and Becce jumped to their feet, both drawing gamma pistols from their belts. “What the hell?” Dom cried. He pounded on the door. “Captain! What are you doing?”
Warwick didn’t respond. Instead, Zimir arrived in the bridge, striding from the lift, a wicked grin on his face. “You should know better than to question the Captain,” Zimir said. He approached Vely and snatched her arm with his claw-like hands. Realization dawned over the three of them. “I think you would actually be surprised at how much the SSA will pay for little Psychos like her,” he said, indicating Vely.
Her stomach dropped. They were going to sell her to the SSA, just like Liza. Vely cried out and thrashed at Zimir’s arm, trying to release his hold. Dom and Becce stepped forward, but Zimir drew his gamma pistol and pressed it against Vely’s head. She froze, whimpering.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Dom said with a low growl. Zimir just grinned wider, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Probably not, but I don’t have a problem ridding myself of you two,” he said, shifting his aim to Becce. Dom began to fidget with something in his pocket, and Zimir’s grasp on her arm tightened, his nails digging into her skin. In her pocket, she felt the vibration of her communicator. Her gaze snapped up to Dom, who gave her a curt nod. He was telling the rest of the crew that it was time. Before long, they would be there to help.
Psychogen (Galactic Syndicate Cycle Book 1) Page 26
