Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (52 page)

“Oh, Trent, I'm so sorry!” she apologized,
sobbing as she pushed herself against the tube wall, allowing Trent
more space to breathe. It helped a little, but she was already
losing herself in despair. Time seemed to stop as she lost herself
in sorrow, along with the tube transport.

“I love you, Trent. I want to live, live with
you, for years upon years,” she sobbed, “I found you and I...I
don't want to lose you...” she felt as if the end had already
come.

“Then...lets...live...” Trent responded
weakly.

Sasha's heart leapt in her chest as she felt
a pulling sensation on her back. She tried to turn, but ended up
tumbling from the individual tube transport. Her head struck first,
stars exploding within as everything went white. A thump told her
Trent had fallen alongside. She dragged herself to her feet, eyes
clearing, unable to fathom the sight appearing before her.

At the end of a short, narrow hallway in
which the tube had brought them, stood a tiny room. A yellow light
flashed within, revealing what looked like two oversized anti-grav
seats placed on the walls, aiming, whoever sat within, at the
ceiling.

“Vin, where are we?” she asked with wonder,
her hope renewed.

“Emergency high-level evacuation vehicle
launch room created for situations requiring evacuation over
safety. The vehicle will lift Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia and Sir
Trent to high Earth orbit to await rescue by TSB or ABF forces,”
she buried her face in her hands...
they were saved.

She dragged Trent down the hall and into the
escape shuttle. It took all her strength to lift him into the seat
and strap the oxygen helmet over his head. She climbed into the
adjacent seat, pulling on the helmet the moment Terra hoped
within.

“One-minute till base self-destruct, request
permission to start launch sequence,” the lack of any emotion in
Vin's voice seemed completely out of place for the words it
spoke.

“Of course you have permission! Launch!” she
shouted incredulously. A moment later, her seat started bucking
violently, while a flickering viewscreen appeared in the air before
them. She reached to her side, grasping Trent's ice cold hand to
interlock their fingers.
We will be ok
, the thought repeated
as she looked from Trent to the viewscreen, now displaying a tunnel
vanishing into the distance.

The shaking began to subside as the pressure
grew, and it felt like she was being forced through anti-g gel that
began to encase her. Then, after about 30 seconds, they started
bucking back and forth violently, like the Earth itself was
collapsing around them.

At the moment Sasha thought they were doomed,
the viewscreen vanishing and the lights going dark, they having
been too slow to escape the base’s destruction, the world steadied,
and a bright light assaulted the steadying viewscreen. Once her
eyes cleared, a majestic blue sky spread before her, wispy white
clouds drifting casually through...the blue sky of Earth.

Gradually, the blue shifted to the black
darkness of space as the emergency launch vehicle angled as they
safely reached orbit.

Sasha pulled herself free of the restraining
gel, glancing towards the Earth turning slowly beyond the
viewscreen while floating the short distance to Trent. Sweat
covered his pasty white skin, but his breathing had calmed and he
appeared to be asleep. She lowered herself onto his lap, placing
her head down upon his shoulder and closing her eyes.

They had survived against all odds. Their
future being returned to them, and she planned to make the most of
it.

“What now,” he groaned, the TSB Ero’Cia’s
battle stations alarm once again dragging him free of much needed
sleep. Daniel pulled himself upright, forcing his stiff limbs to
move, trying to untangle the sheets of an unfamiliar bed. It took
only a moment for the confusion of sleep to clear, but when it did,
the memories began to return. He couldn't help but squirm.

He'd been violated.

Being forced to endure things no man should
ever have to endure from the moment he entered Lt.-Commander Xi's
quarters. It was then that he finally understood what Xi was
planning, that in exchange for her silence he now belonged to her,
to do with as she pleased. At first, he thought it might not be so
bad. But then he was drugged, with the same aphrodisiac, Noble's
Delight, he'd been so fond of using on others, tied to the
bed...and the rest was a blur.

Xi was already on her feet, smoothing out her
combat uniform. She turned to him with a devious smile Daniel knew
would become part of his everyday life...and his nightmares.

“Remember our agreement, Daniel...not a
word,” she told, voice of menace, his skin crawling with every
word. He had no idea how to act around her, he having always been
the predator when it came to women and this being the first time
he'd become the prey. He sighed his frustration, rubbing his
swollen wrists while watching her rush into the busy corridor.

“Damn,” he cringed while rolling out of bed,
the bruises over his skin a testament to Xi’s sadistic nature.
Trying his best not to move too quickly, he pulled on his dirty
uniform.

As he began to meander down the empty
corridors, he started thinking on how he could find his way out
from beneath Xi’s thumb. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind, one
word from her and he’d be thrown in the brig for treason, and more
than likely, spaced, if not worse. So in the meantime, he would let
his resentment grow; joining the nasty lump of hate inside his
heart, expanded by one the number of people he would now
destroy.

Reaching the bridge, he found he was indeed
last to arrive. But to his surprise, Captain Aysi ignored him, her
expression of iron. He took his seat at tactical and quickly
brought up his display. Rescue shuttles were still combing the
wreckage that had continued moving on its momentum in the direction
of the TSB Fleet Base. But the main fleet of TSB and ABF starships
had altered course, heading in system, beyond the asteroid
belt.

Daniel felt a tinge of surprise, knowing
powered starships were forbidden within the inner asteroid belt for
fear they may be detected. But in the end, he didn’t really care
anymore. After about 15 minutes the captain stirred and stood.

“Communications, give me all hands,” she said
gravely. Daniel glanced to the normally stoic woman, whose face had
turned white as the stripes on her uniform.

“Communications open, ma'am,” a chill crept
up Daniel's spine as he heard Xi's response.

“Attention crew of the TSB Ero'Cia. Earth
Base has been destroyed,” the bridge officers gasped as one, then
began whispering in disbelief. Daniel stared at the captain,
dumbfounded.
How could Earth Base have been destroyed?
It
was underground beneath the Atlantic Ocean, sunk deep into solid
rock. It would take weeks of orbital bombardment or a planet killer
to destroy it.

“Preliminary reports are vague, but it
appears that a level one quarantine event took place and the TSB
primary Program decided to self-destruct the base to stop its
spread. Initial reports state the ASU may be responsible for
whatever agent was released,” horrified shouts filled the air in
response, all thoughts of protocol gone.

That’s impossible
, Daniel’s mind
screamed. The ASU had been kept behind the Wall, watched by the
massive Emperor's Wall Fleet for the past 400 years. But even if
they did break through;
why had they come to Earth? It contained
no strategic importance and was just a stupid experiment by a crazy
old emperor who died thousands of years before,
he
wondered.

“We've been ordered to accompany the TSB
Reverie in the duty of escorting the Alutia Battle Fleet to Earth's
orbit. Lt.-Commander Xi, bring us to standard alert, I want all
bridge officers back in four hours.” Daniel leaned back, staring up
at the metallic ceiling.

He found that he felt a tiny twinge of regret
about Earth Base’s destruction...his home for much of his
life...but it quickly faded. The TSB was finished and there was no
way Earth's governments would not realize their existence after
such a massive explosion...even if occurred miles under the
Atlantic Ocean. He would finally be able to leave this
insignificant rock and join some great noble house. A tap on his
shoulder brought him back to the present and he cringed when he saw
who it was.

“Let's go grab some grub and then back to my
quarters for a little “exercise” before we reach Earth,” There was
none of the menace in Lt.-Commander Xi's voice that Daniel had come
to expect. He nodded and followed her off the bridge, resigned to
his current fate.

“...and that ugly ass of his was wagging back
and forth from under the covers. That was the first and last time I
ever entered his bedchamber,” Vickie threw her arms in the air with
an exasperated sigh, having just finished the story of the first
day she'd been “given” to Sir Simwa, and Tiana couldn't stop
shivering.

From what Vickie had been explaining over the
past couple hours, Sir Simwa was the absolute worst type of
traditionalist paramour, and coming from Vickie, an admitted
realist romantic, that was saying something.

Apparently, for their first night together,
Sir Simwa had insisted on the inclusion of a few of his male and
female personal servants. But when Vickie arrived, the festivities
had already begun and she was informed her presence would not be
required.

“Those poor servants...” Gil'Da whispered
from Tiana's side. Vickie's eyebrows rose, a small laugh escaping
her lips.

“My dear, Gil'Da, they may have officially
been known as servants, but they were nothing but common whores. I
never once recall seeing any of these so called servants performing
any cleaning, except of Sir Simwa, of course,” Vickie laughed
merrily as Tiana blushed at the image her words painted within her
mind. A chime sounded from the sitting room door.

“Enter.”

Donnlie marched in, bowing stiffly.

“Lady Tiana,” he squeaked, “Tomi asked me to
come get you...there's something you need to see,” his unease was
obvious.

“If you ladies would excuse me,” she stood,
nodding to Vickie and Gil'Da, who both graciously smiled back,
before she followed Donnlie to the bridge.

As she entered, she looked to the two 15
year-olds still working diligently at their stations, having
succeeded marvelously in what they set out to do. However, Tiana
knew they hadn't left the bridge, or taken a break, for the
entirety of the eight hour journey to Earth's moon. Just as she was
about to order them to rest, her gaze was pulled to the viewscreen
curving around the front of the bridge.

Alongside the tens of thousands of grey
outlined satellites and primitive space stations orbiting Earth, a
single blue square outlined a zoomed in section of space, showing a
cylindrical starship of a like she had never before seen. She
started to move closer, to try and read the indecipherably tiny
words that streamed next to the outline, when Tomi glanced over her
shoulder, noticing Tiana's presence for the first time.

“Lady Tiana,” she squeaked excitedly, “we
detected a TSB distress signal from Earth’s orbit. It looks to be
some sort of escape shuttle, but it's not a design me or Yaz
recognize. We've adjusted course and will be rendezvousing in about
10 minutes, so...um...we need someone to work the boarding tube in
the airlock,” Tiana raised an eyebrow. “It's very simple, actually,
and completely automated, you see, it’s just...someone just needs
to be down there to open the doors and...” Tomi glanced passed her,
and Tiana found herself unconsciously following her gaze to the
captain's station. On the floor beside it lay the laser arc holster
Tiana had left in her haste. Understanding laced with fear filled
her as she realized what Tomi intended. They had no idea who was in
the shuttle. It could be Sir Simwa, one of his men, or someone else
who meant them harm, for all they knew. She nodded, scared that if
she opened her mouth, her fear would be clearly evident.

The holster felt heavy as she strapped it
over her shoulder, before making her way to engineering. Donnlie
and Regalia had gone before her, moving the children who'd been
sleeping and playing in the crew quarters up to the passenger
apartment. Tiana, after thanking the two, located the door labeled,
boarding tube
, down the primary engineering corridor, then,
after taking a deep, slow breath to gather her courage,
entered.

The boarding tube airlock was empty, except
for the outer airlock door that lay flush against the outer hull,
outlined in a black and yellow projection, with a control PDU on
the adjacent wall. Tiana selected the load icon hovering over the
PDU. A projection appeared, displaying an image similar to the one
she had seen on the bridge’s viewscreen, but zoomed in only on the
cylindrical shuttle. A blue com icon started flashing in the bottom
corner of the display. Unsure, but assuming it most likely from the
bridge, she tapped the icon.

“Lady Tiana, we will be within range in one
minute,” Tomi’s voice echoed through the small airlock. “A
“capture” icon should flash on the control display when we are
close enough to start the docking procedure. Select the icon and
the boarding tube will automatically extend to capture the shuttle.
The airlock door will then open after the tube is pressurized,” she
finished.

“Ok,” Tiana whispered, slapping her cheeks,
ignoring the blond locks that fell across her brow...
you can do
this, Tiana.

Anxiously, she waited as they maneuvered
alongside the rotating escape shuttle. A red icon flashed, then
vanished, then appeared again, only to vanish once more. Confused,
she started to access the com to check with Tomi, when an idea
struck her.