by gerald hall
"Of course, Sir."
"Do you remember hearing about the prisoner that we found on that captured Jihadist shuttle that turned out to be more like a disguised battler?
“Yes, I did. Was there something special about him?”
“It appears that he was working for Galactic Expeditions at the time that the Truists captured him. His ship had just returned from a recon mission somewhere near the Lu’non border in the expanses of the Orion Arm, or at least that is what Moriarty has discovered so far in the Conestoga’s computer files.
We also found some other things about the prisoner as well.”
Captain Farrow held out his hand. “This was discovered in his personal effects that we found on the Conestoga.”
It was a necklace with a cross very similar in appearance to the one that Angela always wore around her neck.
“Somehow, I think that you will find a connection with this man. I saw the video recordings that the Truists made while interrogating him. He is obviously someone who takes his faith very seriously, just like you do.
I need for you to find a way to gain his trust and obtain the information that the Truists wanted so badly.” Captain Farrow explained.
“He may not know anything at all, sir.” Angela argued.
“Oh, he knows something. Otherwise, the Truists would have killed him like they did the rest of his crew. After all, he had been working for Galactic Expeditions somewhere out in the Orion Arm where few humans have even been known to have ever traveled. ‘The True Way’ hates for anyone to be exploring out there in what they consider to be their backyard.”
“But I’m an engineering tech, not an interrogator.” Angela protested.
“Would you rather that I let the first officer interrogate him instead?” Captain Farrow answered back caustically.
The thought of what Sarah Bucholtz might do to the prisoner sent shivers down Angela’s spine as she hesitated. Before she could reply, Captain Farrow spoke again, this time with a much more conciliatory tone.
“You know that I would much rather that Sarah not handle the interrogation either. When we captured that female Truist operative a few months ago, Sarah interrogated her. I knew that Sarah had very few inhibitions regarding interrogations, especially if they dared to resist. But, Lord, I never thought that I would see a woman do to another woman what Sarah did to that Truist spy. Sarah got some information in the end. But there wasn’t much left of that young woman by the time that Sarah finally flushed her out of the airlock. Sarah was still smiling as she watched that naked spy tumbling in space, silently screaming for the last time.”
Even Capt. Farrow was shocked by what his first officer had done during that incident.
“I need you to do this. I have a gut feeling that you can gain his trust…that you can make the connection that will enable us to gain access to whatever valuable information that he has, Angela.
You may even save his life if you are successful. Will you at least try?”
Angela looked over at the video monitor at the prisoner. She knew in her heart that Captain Farrow was right. Angela could not stand aside and let this man suffer anymore. Not if she could help it.
“Yes, sir. I will.” Angela simply said.
“Here’s what I want you to do….” Captain Farrow began to explain to the young engineer.
Jonathan didn't know how long he had been unconscious since he had first descended into Hell. He only saw his world begin to brighten as he opened his eyes.
“When I awaken, I stare into the eyes of an Angel. I am lying down, no longer bound or in pain. I feel like I am floating though I cannot move my arms and legs. Her lovely face and golden hair are framed in a bright light. Her body dressed in flowing white garments. I am also now dressed in white and no longer feel the shame of being nude in front of strangers.”
“The Demons?” I whispered in a hoarse voice. My throat still ached from so much screaming.
“You are safe now. The demons are gone now.” The Angel tells me in a soothing voice.
She reaches out to touch me. I try to draw back, fearing the pain that even the Demon’s slightest touch gave me, but still cannot move. But this time, there is no pain, just comforting warmth from her touch.
I feel tears running down my face. I can’t help it, even though I am not sure of where I am or what is going on.
The Angel brings me a cup of water to drink. I cannot hold it myself, so she gently brings the cup to my lips.
“Is this living water?” I ask.
“Yes. I bring it to quench your thirst, my brother.” The Angel responds.
“Thank you.” I reply before taking my first sip. I never imagined that water could taste so good. The air that I breathed in was so sweet and fresh as well. The Angel continued to give me the water that my parched body craved so badly.
I was tended to by this Angel for what appeared to be several days before I dared ask her any other questions. Then, I finally asked the question that had been in my mind ever since I woke up and saw her shining face for the first time.
“Am I in heaven?”
“No. Not yet. You have much to do still in this fleshly realm. But for now, you are safe from the Demons who possessed and tormented you. They had many questions of you, did they not? The Angel responded.
“Yes. But I would not tell them what they wanted to know. What good would it have done to comply with anything that a Demon would demand? All that they desire is evil. So to answer their questions would only aid their evil plans.” I replied.
"You have done well. What is your name, my brother?"
"My name is Jonathan." I readily answer.
“Please tell me Jonathan, what it was that the Demons sought from you. The truth will set you free as is written in the Word…” the Angel told me.
“I am not sure if I can answer your question. But I do still see visions that may be what the Demons wanted.” I told the Angel.
“Please tell me of your visions then, Jonathan.” The Angel asked.
I hesitate at first. But I then look into the Angel’s warm blue eyes, so full of love and compassion. I hear my own voice before I am even aware that I am speaking.
“I saw many broken ships with red sunbursts painted on their tails, dancing and twirling among the rocks within the mouth of the Spiny Crab…a giant hollow rock with a world inside of it nearby….”
“Please tell me more. I know that you feel the need to unburden your heart…”
“22…44….89” I repeat the numbers several times, almost mechanically.
“What do these numbers mean, my brother?” the Angel asked calmly
“I don’t remember. I just know that they are important.”
“Do you remember anything else, Jonathan?” she asked.
“I’m not sure…..nothing that I can see clearly yet.”
“It’s alright. You are safe now and have plenty of time to remember later on. Now, it is time for you to rest, my brother.” The Angel serenely told me.
I closed my eyes to sleep. But it isn’t long before the visions of the Demons appear again…and again, leaving me in a cold sweat as I wake up screaming. Am I alive? Am I dead? I still just don’t know yet.
As the Angel left me, I heard strange voices somewhere off in the distance. They were talking about salvage, raids and prize money. Why would I hear such things here if I am with the angels? As I drift off to sleep once again, I feel very confused about where I am and what is happening to me.
Chapter Ten:
Pirate Jump Tender: Black Diamond
Near Zenith Jump Point
Ferihegy System, Orion Arm
October 26, 2320
Captain Jackson Farrow and his engineering officer Angela Collins sat in another compartment, watching the video recording of the Galactic Expeditions explorer’s interrogation. Angela had already changed clothing from the “angel’s” costume to the utilitarian black work coveralls that were her normal attire. She has also rolled her b
londe hair back up into a tight bun on the back of her head.
“You played your part well, Angela. It’s quite remarkable what you have been able to accomplish in the eight days since we recovered the surviving Galactic Expeditions operative from the jihadist vessel.” The captain said as he turned towards the petite blonde and smiled.
“Thank you, sir. You were right about him. It helped me very much that Jonathan had an exceptionally strong religious upbringing. I saw in the Truist recordings of their interrogation of Jonathan that he used his faith to resist his captors. I used the symbols and themes of that faith, in turn, to gain his trust and obtain information from him.”
“You admire him, don’t you?”
“I guess that I do. But I also feel sorry for him after he has endured so much horror at the hands of those bastard Uomo Dominante monsters.” Angela answered while looking down at the floor and feeling more than a little bit of shame over her own exploitation of the injured Galactic Expeditions explorer as well as her own history as a former member of ‘The True Way’. At the same time, her fingers unconsciously caressed the gold cross that hung from a necklace around her neck.
“I know that his memories seem a bit fuzzy. But, it sounds like his exploration team might have at least found some missing military vessels, not that it’s going to do him any good now.”
“What about that business with the ‘world inside of a rock’? What do you think that was?” Angela asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe it's some sort of installation built inside of an asteroid. There have always been rumors of hidden naval bases having been built by Earth Fleet inside of asteroids or planetoids. It would make sense that one of the old pirate kingdoms or insurrectionist groups would have done the same to hide or protect their bases. I guess that we are just going to have to look around and see if we can find it also. Still, who would have figured that the Truists would have run into someone whose religious faith would be even stronger than their belief in their damned True Way?” the pirate captain said with the irony clearly evident in his tone.
“A faith that I had almost forgotten about myself….a faith that I had been taught as a child. I should have never left that faith and its morality behind.” These were the words that silently ran through Angela’s mind and echoed deep in her heart after seeing the strength that Jonathan had drawn from his faith in the face of such horrors.
“Yes. The Uomo Dominante who were doing the interrogation had him pumped full of hallucinogens as well as drugs that made his skin so sensitive that the slightest touch caused him pain. We’ve taken him off of the latter, but are continuing the use of the hallucinogens that have helped us convince him that he is truly talking to an angel. Your medics added a mild paralytic agent that keeps him unable to move his arms and legs while at the same time providing him with the sensation of floating.” Angela replied after straightening up in her seat, distracted from her memories of the interrogations, both the interrogations done by the Uomo Dominante that she had watched from their own video recordings and the ones that she conducted herself.
“Very good. It seems to have been a very effective combination. Especially, if my hunch is correct that the ships that he described are located in an asteroid belt or perhaps a moon near the center of the Constellation of Cancer. We have been looking for derelict ships to salvage from for a very long time. Besides, things are getting pretty hairy in the coreward part of the Orion Arm right now. This is the time to do a little treasure hunting and give things coreward a chance to settle down some.” Captain Farrow replied with a sly smile as he continued to watch the prisoner through the video monitor.
“...and the numbers that he gave us?”
“The navigator thinks that they are spatial coordinates to one of the stars within the center of the constellation. Certainly, they will narrow down our search area considerably within that part of the Orion Arm, the captain explained.
“What are we going to do with Jonathan? Between the use of the neural whip and the nightmare games that those jihadist cyborgs used on him, I’m not sure that he is capable of returning to a mental state resembling normal sanity. Even now, he still can’t sleep more than a couple of hours at a time before having more of those hellish nightmares.” Angela asked.
“Just keep him sedated for now. The doc will work on getting his physical health improved to the extent possible. She’s already got an IV hooked up to him as well as a feeding tube. I want you to be ready to play “Angel” whenever he is conscious though. He might know a lot more information that we can use.”
”Yes, Sir. I hope that we won’t have to push him too hard though. If Jonathan finds out that his ‘angel’ has betrayed him, he may withdraw so deeply that we will never get anything from him again.“
“We will have to rely on both your intuition as well as the doc’s expertise. I know that she’s been pretty busy dealing with all of our other casualties from the boarding action though. Damned exploding cyborgs…. I wish that we could have flushed them all out of the airlock before they had a chance to blow themselves up in the midst of my people. Anyway….. Use your best judgment, Angela.”
Captain Farrow was still fuming about the fifteen men and women of his crew that he lost to the Uomo Dominante that were on the converted Conestoga. He wanted very badly to gain something in compensation for their deaths.
Angela looked away from her captain for a few moments. She hated pretending to be an angel to that horribly brutalized man in the next compartment. But she didn’t know what else she could do to help him. If not for the information that Jonathan possessed, the pirates’ executive officer, among others, would have flushed him out of an airlock along with the rest of the garbage.
“I have always thought of myself as an engineer who happens to work on a pirate ship, not a pirate who does engineering work. What am I becoming now?” Angela silently asked herself before quickly wiping her eyes and turning back towards Captain Farrow.
“We may have missed our opportunity to seize that Truist Tramp to add to the disguised battler that we captured from them earlier, but thanks to our ‘friend’ here, we may end up doing far better instead. Incidentally, I’ve decided to keep her named Hidden Blade. It still seems quite fitting considering how that shuttle has been outfitted as covert battler. ” Captain Farrow calmly said as he played absently with his moustache.
“One other thing, Angela. How is the refitting work progressing on our new prize? I know that you have still been keeping up with the engineering stuff in spite of the extra duties that I’ve had you doing lately.”
The engineer in Angela that loved to tinker quickly came out, causing her eyes to brighten up and a smile to immediately appear on her face.
“Well, Sir. I think that we have her controls patched up enough that she can be effectively flown now, though the repair work is still far from complete. I’ve also got a crew beginning to remove all but two of the capital missile launchers from her like you had requested.” She responded with her usual enthusiasm restored.
“Excellent. There’s no way that we could have kept all of those big launchers supplied in missiles. The capital missile launchers are also pretty manpower intensive. That’s something that we can’t afford either. One launcher per flank will do just fine for the kinds of fights that we would have anyway. There will certainly be a market out there for the launchers that we are disposing of in any event. The hard part will be getting enough firepower to replace what we are removing from the Hidden Blade. I don’t want it all to be short range equipment nor weapons that will bankrupt us with ammunition costs.” The pirate captain replied.
“I understand. Sir. Who knows what we might find available. I do have some ideas of what I would like to install though.” Angela’s smile grew broader as more ideas came to mind. Contemplating a technical problem always tended to take Angela’s mind off of other, more personal, worries
“Good. We’ll talk about this more later. Right now, you need to get some well deserve
d rest.” Captain Farrow said with a smile.
“Thank you and good night, Sir.” Angela said as she walked out of the compartment towards her quarters.
Captain Farrow turned back towards the monitor and looked at the prisoner lying on his bunk. The prisoner looked like just an ordinary man. But somewhere in his mind, the prisoner still had a treasure trove of information, waiting to be discovered.
“I wonder what other secrets that you might know? You are going to give them up to us, one way or another.” He quietly said to himself.
After a few minutes of watching the traumatized prisoner lying on the bed, the pirate commander walked away.
As Jonathan drifted in and out of consciousness, one thought kept repeating in his brutalized mind, still trying to grasp onto the reality of the world surrounding him.
“Who do you believe in? The Demon that you know….or the Angel that you don’t know?”
Chapter Eleven:
Pirate Jump Tender: Black Diamond
Near Zenith Jump Point
Waypoint System, Orion Arm
November 27, 2321
The jump tender hung motionless in space as a heavy cargo shuttle approached her starboard docking collar. Another ordinary appearing heavy shuttle was already attached to one of her other two docking collars. To everyone looking at her from the approaching shuttle, the Black Diamond appeared to be just like every other commercial jump tender.
“It’s about time that they got back from selling the last of the excess material that we got from that Jihadist shuttle and picking up additional supplies purchased with the proceeds of the sales.” Sarah Bucholtz growled as she impatiently watched from the Invader’s bridge.
"Ma'am. Do you know if we were able to find any replacements for the people that we lost capturing that shuttle from the Truists? I'm missing a lot of good people as a result of that mess. A battler would also be very helpful for us if we can find one and a reliable crew." Lieutenant LeGrand asked.
