Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (8 page)

“What of you and the rest of the crew,
Xin'Eir? Does the bridge have a similar functionality? Or did the
designers think your lives worthless?” Venom seeped into her words,
not aimed at Xin’Eir, but at the NHA Starship Design and Research
Group, or SDRG, who were responsible for all approved NHA starship
designs.

“Not exactly, Sasha,” Xin’Eir squeaked, Sasha
cursing herself for letting her annoyance show, “there are escape
pods in addition to a small ferry shuttle. The crew should be able
to escape if we have sufficient time.” Sasha, though relieved the
crew had been provided escape options, couldn’t help but frown.

During combat, or emergences that ultimately
led to a starship’s destruction, it was a rare for the crew to have
sufficient time to reach the escape pods. This meant that survivors
from destroyed starships were rarely found, and most crews accepted
the fact that starships were inescapable coffins.
We will just
have to see about that, won’t we?
Sasha thought, deciding it
best to have a discussion with the flight captain, sooner than
later, about emergency procedures in relation to allowing everyone,
crew or not, to utilize the seating area during emergencies.

“This area in front of my apartments must be
the bridge then, where we are now?” asked Sasha, deciding to shift
away from that less then upbeat topic.

“Very perceptive, Sasha...that is indeed the
bridge,” Xin’Eir’s tone reminded her of Tiana, who would pepper her
sweet words with compliments, but show her real meaning with the
mischievous look in her eyes. Xin'Eir's eyes, however, matched her
words, showing only honesty.

The image on the CID highlighted the area she
had been pointing, the upper bow of the starship. “Now for the
lower deck,” Xin’Eir had fully calmed, no longer daunted by Sasha’s
presence, “Directly below the bridge we have the combat system
station, or CSS. This is where the Electronic Warfare, or EW,
Energy Shield System, or ESS, and Laser Particle Arrays, or LPAs,
are managed, along with providing redundancy in case the main
bridge is incapacitated during combat.” Sasha nodded, trying to
remember the information being provided, but knowing she would most
likely forget what most of it meant. “This next section is the crew
quarters and mess. Nothing special here, except if you need to find
the flight captain when he is off duty, he is usually goofing off
in the officer’s lounge.” Sasha grinned as Xin'Eir's mind caught up
to her mouth, her expression shifting to panicked shock the moment
she realized what she'd said about the flight captain.

Sasha couldn't contain herself, bursting into
hysterical laughter. The rest of the bridge crew, busy monitoring
systems and preparing for the short acceleration to the escort
fleet, looked up from their stations to Sasha, then Xin'Eir, who
was blushing furiously.

“This is why...I prefer to talk...talk
without titles. It makes even the most technical
conversations...have a chance to be entertaining,” Sasha stuttered,
her laughter continuing to breakthrough her words. “Please...please
continue with this next section, Xin'Eir, and I'll keep what you
said between us,” she recovered, winking with delight at the still
mute flight supply officer.

“Yes, Sasha.” The squeak that touched Sasha’s
ears made her realize it may not be wise to let Xin'Eir meet Tiana
until she could properly prepare her...the young flight supply
officer might not survive the encounter.

“This next section is the hanger bay. This is
a uniquely required feature of the ABF Princess One, since most
capital docking bays are not meant to handle shuttles of this size.
The ferry shuttle docked within can carry six people comfortably
and up to 10 in emergencies,” Xin’Eir accelerated her explanation,
talking without pause. “Beyond that we have main engineering, the
secondary armory, maintenance and tools bays, and finally, the NSD,
or Neutron Star Drive Core,” Xin'Eir finished, finally taking a
breath. Sasha sighed, winking again at the young flight supply
officer whose blush of embarrassment had yet to start fading,
thinking it about time to release her from her torment.

“Thank you, Xin'Eir. Your explanations were
very informative and I appreciate you taking the time to speak
freely with me.” The young lady somehow blushed further at Sasha's
praise, “Just remember to use proper formalities in the presence of
others...it may cause some...confusion,” Sasha paused for a moment,
considering. “Actually, Xin'Eir, I would like to dine with you
sometime during our journey. Send a message to Gil'Da, my personal
servant, with the times you will be off-duty and she will set
something up,” Sasha explained as the idea struck her, not wanting
to lose it amongst her many other responsibilities.

Before Xin’Eir could respond, Sasha went a
step further, accessing her private BAP with her BC node to create
a note to herself to arrange casual dinners with the rest of the
officers, and possibly group meals with the general crew.
They
are the precious crew of my personal starship
,
after
all,
she thought, knowing they would be working together quite
closely in the coming months. It would only be prudent to prepare a
casual environment so as to allow her to get to know each and every
one of them, while listening to their concerns.
It wouldn't hurt
their moral either
, she realized, knowing that there patron
cared enough to invite them to dinner could do wonders.

Sasha could only smile when she realized her
thoughts had become those of a ruling noble...or how she always
thought a ruling noble should act. Not like the traditionalists,
who treated the lower classes like filth. She’d promised herself
that if ever provided with the opportunity to rule, she would do
everything in her power to provide for all those in which she
ruled, and she would not renege on that promise.

Once more she nodded her thanks to the
saluting Xin'Eir, the projection vanishing as the private channel
close. Sasha began to rise from her seat, deciding to explore her
apartments before they rendezvoused with the escort fleet, only to
find Tiana's grinning face less than a hand’s breath from her own.
She shrieked surprise as she stumbled back into her chair,
horrified by the undignified sound that just escaped her lips.

Sasha quickly recovered her wits, ignoring
the concerned queries from the bridge crew and Tiana, who had a
mischievous smirk spread from ear to ear, and walked briskly to the
front of Sir Seb'Losh, who stood stone faced by the door.

“I shall be retiring to my apartments and I
am not to be disturbed! Not by you...and especially not by her!”
She pointed back across the deck to Tiana, whose smirk turned
immediately into a trained pout, exposed as false by her teasing
eyes.

“As you wish, Your Grace,” Sir Seb'Losh
responded with the utmost dignity, while politely opening the
door.

She started through when she caught what
appeared to be a wink from Sir Seb'Losh, causing her to whirl about
just in time to witness Tiana returning said wink. She glared at
Sir Seb'Losh.

“We will be having words, Sir Seb'Losh! We
will be having words!” she stamped her foot, staring daggers at her
lady-in-waiting, who stuck out her tongue playfully, before turning
and walking briskly towards her new life, unable to hold back a
cringe at the thought of having to deal not only with the ever
playful Tiana...but her own Guard Captain, Sir Seb’Losh.

An oppressive radiance streamed into his
tiny, studio apartment, barely diffused by the rose colored shades
covering the lone, wall sized window. Trent moaned, burying his
head in his pillow, trying to block the hateful sunlight. But even
with his sight smothered, it relentlessly beat down upon him,
matching the pounding within his skull, a remnant of his latest
late night of heavy drinking.

“You win...” he muttered, it sounding like he
swallowed a frog.

He rolled over, reaching for his MCD where he
always left it upon the wooden nightstand. But something was odd.
The nightstand’s surface, normally cool and hard to the touch, was
soft, warm, and pleasant, with two lumps on its surface. He found
himself unconsciously caressing the lumps, thinking them something
else, before realizing, at that moment, exactly how lonely he had
become since he’d learned of Samantha’s betrayal.

“Mmm...” a faint, feminine moan rose from the
nightstand, “you’re feisty this morning,” followed by a gentle
whisper and roaming hands. Beyond confused at the fact his
nightstand had, apparently, come alive; he forced his eyes to
focus, finding an unexpected face lying between him and the
mysterious nightstand.

It was Samantha, eyes closed, breathing
lightly, and appearing as gorgeous as he remembered in the bright
morning light. His brain ticked like a frozen clock trying to
start, but finding a gear jammed.

This is definitely wrong
, his
instincts screamed, but the waves of pain seeping from his muddled
mind kept any semblance of rational thought from forming. He slowly
slid away from Samantha and out of bed, trying not to wake her
fully, and made his way to the bathroom.

He touched the light activation plate on the
wall by the door, splashing the refreshingly cool water over his
face that waited in the wash basin, then swallowed a handful of the
anti-hangover pills that were standard fair for any corporate
worker. When the reflection in the mirror cleared, he found the man
staring back at him oddly unfamiliar, clean and shaven, the
bloodshot eyes the only feature that felt genuine.

“I shouldn't be here,” he whispered as his
mind began to clear and the memories of the last few months started
flooding back.

“Why shouldn't you be here, love?” a yawning
Samantha asked as she appeared beside him, as if out of thin air,
forcing her body close so she could lean over the basin. She
splashed the fresh water over her perfectly sculpted features,
Trent finding himself frozen in place. He could only stare, wide
eyed in confusion, as she seductively flipped her long, brown hair
over her shoulder before it could slip into the pooling water.

Her movements drew his gaze to her exposed
flesh, her thin nightgown having fallen open, providing a clear
view of what lay hidden beneath. Samantha notice his hungry gaze,
providing him a playful wink while further exposing her bosom. But
the lust the sight called forth was muffled, like it existed beyond
a frosted wall that instantly cooled the heat of passion before it
could take control of his mind.

This is wrong
, the words echoed in his
mind as he view her in the clear, artificial light. Though no
matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t grasp exactly why he felt
that way. The reason, though vivid, seemed to fade...as was common
with dreams.

“I had the strangest dream,” Trent started,
thinking that must be the most logical explanation as to why he was
having so much trouble piecing together his fractured memories.

“Oh...tell me about it. Tanya was going on
about dreams during lunch the other day. According to her
boyfriend, they may hold the key to a person's soul...or some
gibberish like that. She's always been interested in that machine
psychic healing nonsense that the corps have pushing lately,”
responded Samantha impishly.

Before he could continue, she moved away,
letting her thin, silky nightgown roll to the floor, fully exposing
her naked flesh. Seductively, she brushed her fingers over the
shower activate plate, seeming to beckon him with her gaze before
entering the shower tube, leaving the screen open. Trent's lust
forced its way through the frosted wall as the water coursed down
her glistening curves, but it still wasn’t strong enough to fully
wash away his rational mind.

“In the dream, we broke up,” a gasp of
disbelief erupted from the shower tube, Samantha staring at him
incredulously.

“Why on earth would we do that? I love you
more than anything and...and you still love me? Right?” The
strength of her conviction threw Trent off guard.

“Yes...of course...” he responded, though as
the words left his mouth, he found himself uncertain if they were
true.

No, she was right
, his mind slapped
away the uncertainty. He loved her and she loved him. There was no
way they would ever break up. But the uncertainty persisted;
growing larger within the back of his mind the more he believed she
made sense, becoming a voice of its own that warned him, screamed
something unintelligible that he knew was important, but couldn't
quite grasp.

“You...you're right. But it was still so...so
strange...and felt so real,” the memory of the dream suddenly
become solid, “....I...I found out you had a fiancé, then I lost my
job, became a hobo, and I think I....I fought with some giant
insect? The whole thing's a blur,” he explained with disbelief,
scratching his head as he glanced from his glistening girlfriend,
to the mirror, still having trouble believing the clean shaven face
staring back at him was his. It felt like he hadn't seen it in
months.

“You know, love, that's what happens with
dreams. The longer you're awake, the fuzzier they become. In a few
hours you will have completely forgotten it all and we can get on
with our happy lives,” she turned towards him, placing her hands on
her hips. “Why don't you let me help? Join me in here so we can
start the day with a...bang,” her soothing words cleared most of
the doubts from Trent's mind.

Why worry about the dream when he had
something so beautiful beckoning him?
The unease in his mind,
which had become a dull throb, flashed piercing pain as the last
thought took hold. He gritted his teeth, the sudden shock clearing
after a moment, he thinking the pain must be a side effect of the
hangover medicine. He removed his shorts, ignoring Samantha’s
playful whistle, and proceeded towards the inviting sight beckoning
him from the shower tube.