Franco Brondin stared out the window in his quarters, the stars twinkling in the distance going unnoticed as he absently watched the ships jockeying for docking space slightly below his observation perch. His eyes flickered up to his reflection and stared hard at the imaged that looked back at him. It had been a rough couple of months, and it showed on his face and more importantly, in his eyes. He knew he should be sleeping, but decided that staring out his view port was more interesting than staring at the ceiling once again.
He crossed his arms over his bare chest as he stared, and quickly moved his arms to his side when he noticed what he was doing. Closing his eyes and trying to relax, he centered on the one thing that he could always count on, and frowned as he struggled to bring her image to the surface. It had been far too long since they had last seen each other, and that time had been nothing more than a hurried embrace followed by a "see you soon." Mentally counting the days, he sighed when he realized that they ‘soon’ had stretched into four months.
He guessed he should consider himself lucky that they were both alive. Too many people had died in those four months, and if things didn’t change soon, the galactic war would claim many more. Franco put his thumb and forefinger on his eyes and pushed slightly to stop his train of thought, but it continued on the same path it always had.
Images of the news broadcasts from a few months previous flashed through his mind and he felt himself instantly annoyed and disgusted that he could see those images as clearly as if he had witnessed them just that morning. His free hand tapped against the uniform pants he wore as his other hand pushed harder against his eyes. A small dinging sound saved him from his memories, and he opened his eyes with a sigh.
"Go ahead," he called out to the empty room behind him.
"Systems show an unidentified ship just short of the outer markers. Description of ship matches the Vengeance," a voice replied. "Station is on alert."
"I’ll be there in a few minutes," he sighed as he turned for his shirt, hoping that this would not be one of the enemy's infamous ‘hit and run’ attacks. His hand stopped short as he caught view of the six hundred-meter long craft as it suddenly appeared dangerously close to the station, and his eyes grew wide as streaks of light shot out from the side of the ship, heading straight for the station. He spun towards the door, grabbing his weapons belt as he passed by, and made it out the automatic door just as the station lurched and the floor seemed to dip under his bare feet. 1
~~~~~~~~~~ 2
~Six Months Ago~ 3
“Whoooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Captain Terra Baptiste smiled to herself as the pilot’s voice came over the bridge speakers. She looked out The Passion Rose’s view port, watching as the small star fighter streaked by.
“I take it you approve of our newest acquisition?” she asked into the mike.
“Hell, yeah!” the pilot gushed, then added “Cap’n.”
“Well, reel it in, flyboy, and bring it back to dock. We got things to see, and people to do.” She flicked off the speakers as she caught the pseudo-motion of the two-meter long star fighter circle around for the docking area at the back of The Passion Rose, then turned her attention to other things. Checking through the schedule of the latest space cruise for her private pleasure yacht, she sighed at the last location for passenger pick up.
The planet of Jharfe was too close to the Brahins Realm for her liking, resulting in some tricky maneuvering of the three hundred fifty meter long yacht. Asteroids drifted in and out in an unmapped cosmic dance, usually wreaking havoc with the yacht’s protection shields.
“Mr. Maiodje?” she asked without turning around.
“Captain?” her second in command replied promptly. “Check reports for Realm activity?” He smiled slightly when she clicked her tongue and winked at him, then turned to her other duties. Jeon Maiodje scanned through reports, his pale green eyes taking in every detail. His people, a humanoid looking alien species from the planet Maiodje, had highly tactical minds. His light green fingers flew over the console as he charted a plausible traveling route.
“A few asteroid collisions resulting in extra space fragments,” he reported without turning around. “Nothing our cannons can’t handle.”
“Plot a course, and get us underway as soon as everyone is secure.” Terra lightly stretched as she stood. “What’s our time frame look like?”
Jeon smiled apologetically. “Not enough time for a detour.”
She nodded slightly, then headed for the elevator. “Thanks. Let me know when we’re ready to leave, I’ll be in my quarters.”
“Aye, ma’am,” came the reply as the doors shut behind her. 4
~~~~~~~~~~ 5
The opulence of the corridors passed by unnoticed as The Passion Rose’s Captain walked quietly through. Soft hued walls, specifically designed and colored to enact a peaceful feeling in those viewing it, alternated with slightly brighter colors designed to subtly promote passion. The pleasure yacht was system renowned for providing both tranquillity and excitement for its passengers. 6 Each of the different fifteen passenger levels was designed with a certain mood theme, and every one of the five hundred rooms, from the furnishing, to linen to food, fit in with that mood. The closer one got to the public areas containing restaurants, gambling areas, and a realistic synthetic park, the colors changed to promote spending.
The crew levels, located on the lower decks near the docking area, also followed a certain theme, but the one hundred quarters were furnished to the occupant’s individual personal tastes. Some rooms even had wild schemes when the two roommates could not agree on one style.
Terra walked through the door to her quarters at the end of a hall on the lowest crew level, and immediately headed to the bed. She flopped down on it for a few minutes before rolling over in aggravation and sat on the corner. Her eyes traveled to every corner of the spacious room, taking in both doors that lead the large washroom and siting area respectively. It was one of the largest quarters on the ship, bigger than even some of the luxury suites, and today it seemed larger than usual.
Most days she could take comfort in the rainbow of colors that made up her quarters, all in soothing soft hues. Getting up, she walked through the door to the dining area that usually doubled as her office, and looked out the floor to ceiling view-port that took up one entire wall. She could see her reflection and allowed her eyes to travel along the image of the room behind her. A large table made from Lgtiao wood stood in the middle complete with eight high-backed chairs from the same wood. It had cost her a veritable fortune when she acquired it three years previous, and looked upon it as a sign of how far she had come in her life.
Born thirty-five years previous on a barely populated scientific outpost planetoid, she had moved several times by her fifth year due to her parent’s work. She could actually place her entire belongings in one carry bag, and her family never seemed to believe in special occasions for her. A few years and innumerable outposts later, everything changed when two warring worlds opted to have a final battle right over a small moon. Falling debris, not slowed by the minimal gravity of the unnamed moon, had struck the ten building outpost, demolishing three of the buildings. Her mother and father had been in one of the buildings, and although her father eventually healed from his near fatal injuries, her mother had not been so lucky.
Heartbroken, father took daughter to live with relatives she had never met before, leaving her there while he slowly mended both body and heart. He had all but disappeared from her life, only showing up for special occasions, only to leave again for long periods at a time. 7 When she turned fourteen, he extended an invitation for her to join him on the star shuttle Hrisnao’s Pride, on which he was in charge of scientific studies. The Stylix Confederation government commissioned the shuttle to study two moons on the outskirts of the galaxy, whose orbits would eventually bring them together in collision. The trip would take nearly a year to accomplish, and her father thought it was time he brought her back into his life.
That time would never arrive. While awaiting his arrival on Half-Point Station, a major space intersection orbiting the planet of Juiloen, Terra received news that the Hrisnao’s Pride had been destroyed by pirates. Apparently, they had only meant to deprive the shuttle of its cargo, and the destruction had been a tragic mistake, but that made no difference to her. Her future with her father, so close to fruition, had been violently ripped from her before she had a chance to experience what she had barely remembered from her youth.
When the pirates had been tracked down and caught a few years later, they told authorities that when they had boarded the Hrisnao’s Pride, everything went accordingly to plan. The two pirate ships lay in wait behind a small moon, and when the ‘victim’ arrived, would swoop out and cut off its escape. One ship attached itself to the Pride while the other kept guard for problems. When they were leaving, someone on the Hrisnao’s Pride decided to pilot the shuttle to escape, but the pirate ship was still attached and, in breaking loose to preserve themselves, caused the other ship to loose control. Her father's ship crashed into the second pirate ship, obliterating both.
Terra did not buy into the accidental death defense that the pirates claimed, and was happy when all were sentenced first to ten years in prison, then to be followed up by a mandatory five years in the Stylix Confederation's Military forces. If any of them survived, which was doubtful considering the prison conditions, they would have been released from Military service about three years previous.
Terra blinked as a noise sounded, and stared at her reflection in the large window as her first officer’s voice came into her quarters.
“We’re ready, Captain.”
Terra nodded to her image. “Proceed,” she ordered. “I’ll be there in five.” She brushed down the front of her gray uniform, and fixed a smile on her face before turning away. 8
~~~~~~~~~~ 9
Asteroids skimmed by the view-port in a nearly surreal cosmic dance that threatened to hypnotize a person if they stared for too long. The largest of the unnamed asteroid in the Realm Border floated through the others in its usual haphazard orbit, and hid a danger far larger than the mere asteroids advertised.
The black ship stayed with the asteroid as it made its way across the area, completely hidden from view by the talents of the pilot. The ship’s massive six hundred-meter length fell just short of the end of the asteroid, one of the reasons it had been chosen.
The Captain of the ship watched the monitor in front of him, contemplating what to do about the mid-sized ship that had arrived at the neighboring planet of Jharfe. Part of him wanted to simply blow it out of space, while another part knew it wasn’t a Stylix Confederation's Military ship, and therefor a waste of his time.
“Vengeance is ready, sir,” a voice from behind him said. He glanced back at his First Officer and nodded. “I have a close up of the ship.”
Captain Ron Haligan perked slightly. “Put it on.” He leaned forward when his First Officer, Gerald Quinn replaced the image on the main view screen. Captain Haligan frowned slightly as he read the name on the side of the ship. “The Passion….Rose? What’s a rose?”
The other men and women on the bridge of the Brahins Realm warship Vengeance shrugged and murmured amongst themselves. The Captain turned to someone. “Find out what a rose is.”
Gerald Quinn watched as a young woman left the bridge, smiling as he took in her form. He looked back to find his Captain regarding him steadily. He had been warned many times to keep him mind on his work while on duty, but at times found it hard with so many women around. Women consisted more than forty percent of the crew, and he estimated that he had slept with approximately more than half of them.
“Attention on the task at hand, Gerald.”
“Aye, sir.” Gerald strolled to his station, checked a few readings as he targeted the ship on the monitors, and armed the Vengeance’s forward cannons. “Awaiting your orders, sir.”
“One moment.” The Captain pushed a button on a blinking communications console. “Yes?”
“I’ve found out what a rose is, sir,” a woman’s voice filtered through the bridge. “It’s a fragrant flower from Earth, supposedly the symbol of love.”
“Ohhhh, scary,” Gerald whispered to himself as he reached out to cancel the firing solution he had obtained.
The captain sat his tall frame straighter in the chair. “I’m not attacking something that goes by the name of Passion Rose” he said with humorous disgust. “I’m in the mood for a hit and run. Wait until she leaves the area, then we’ll attack.”
“Aye sir,” came acknowledgments from across the bridge. Gerald closed his blue eyes and leaned back to relax. There was no sense in his working out any sort of attack plan, since ‘hit and run’ relied on spontaneity and stealth; none that could be accomplished until the other ship left orbit so it could not send out a warning to the planet below.
“Gerald?”
His eyes popped open and he turned to face his Captain. “Sir?” He stood with a sigh as the other man motioned for him to follow. They walked across the bridge and through a door to the Captains private office. He stood loosely at attention in front of the desk as the captain took his place behind it.
Captain Haligan ran his fingers through his blonde hair, pausing at the shock of black hair that ran across the nape of his neck, as he regarded the other man. “You think we should just blow them out of orbit?”
“What I think is immaterial, sir. The final decision is ultimately yours.”
“Nice answer,” he replied, “been practicing it long?” He smiled slightly as he saw anger flash though Gerald’s blue eyes. “As my second in command, I need you to voice your opinions to me. If you think I am doing something…wrong…I want to hear about it…privately, of course.”
“Yes, sir.”
“This is our first journey in to this…Stylix Confederation…and I’m not going to waste the shock value of what we can inflict…on some ship named after a flower.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Good. Now, if you can just keep your attention above your waist line, then I will have nothing else to complain about.” The man in front of the desk blushed slightly but did not respond. “Better yet, let’s make a little rule, shall we. Bridge personnel are off limits to you. Sleep with whoever else you want, but keep your…hands…off the bridge staff.”
“Yes, sir.” Damn. He looked up as a chime sounded, announcing a message for the Captain.
“The Passion Rose has left orbit, sir. Estimated twenty minutes until she is outside of scanning range to detect us.”
“Very well,” the captain replied. “Ding me when we’re ready.” The connection shut off, and he looked at Gerald. “You’re an excellent officer. You just need to learn to concentrate.” He paused for a moment. “Dismissed.” He returned the salute, and watched as the door shut behind the other man.
Ron Haligan pushed a small button on his desk, and images of his home appeared in front of him, the see-through pictures floating six inches above his desk. His ancestors had settled a less than hospitable quadrant of a barely colonized section of the universe, a place they dubbed Brahins Realm. Most had taken over ships during the mad exodus from Earth nearly six hundred years previous, and had made their way to the Realm in order to avoid prosecution for killing the crews and passengers so that they may live.
They chose to sequester themselves from all other humans, and had grown strong in the harsh area they had chosen as their home. Wars continued that had started between various factions since they had settled, and though most never knew the reason for what they were fighting, they still joined their respective armies. Not content with fighting amongst themselves, the two sides met, and signed a pact to send scouts to check on what had happened to their distant relatives they had escaped Earth with.
Wanting what they had seen in the scout’s reports, the inhabitants of The Realm, as it would soon be referred as, suddenly joined forces to take it. The Vengeance was the first warship sent, and their entire planned ‘invasion’ depended on how Captain Haligan and his crew performed, and what resistance they met with.
He smiled at the images, hoping that he would be able to see them again, yet resigned to the fact that he might never be able to. He liked his little niche of the universe, but his heritage and upbringing had instilled a strong desire to seriously inflict damage and pain on those that had that which he wanted.
His smiled changed to something sinister as a chime sounded through his office. He stood to take his place on the bridge and suddenly felt the giddiness that often accompanied the anticipation of something exciting and grand.
10
Author notes
by Barbara on Jul 03, 2004
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Comments
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Exceptionally Well Written
As a reader, I felt the flavor of the setting. A person-in-situation, a reader engulfed with Franco's sense of longing to see his loved one. Chapter one caused me to feel a sense of INSTABILITY, as I feverishly quivered at the thought of separation once again.
Sabbay
Exceptionally well written. -
Hi:
Good start, keep it going.
some notes
paragraph 2 -image
5- maybe remove 'slighter'
8-'enemy's' or maybe enemies'
19-reconsider last sentence
40-its not it's
52- maybe 'neither of which could be accomplished...' -
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Thanks. I just sort of posted what I had saved on disk. This was a time when I constantly got its and it's mixed up, and I think I've changed four or five so far.
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