Ep.#14 - "The Weak and the Innocent" (The Frontiers Saga) (22 page)

Deliza turned and flashed him an irritated look, followed by a controlled smile.

“Beats the hell out of a utility shuttle,” he added.

“The main salon has everything you might need to relax during your time aboard,” Sergeant Isan explained, as he pointed to the various amenities of the room. “There is a refreshment center and wet bar here, in the forward area, with a small dining area to starboard. A viewing screen drops down from the overhead and we carry a vast library of entertainment videos from all of the industrialized worlds in the Pentaurus sector. The master suite is upstairs and there are six more staterooms aft through the central corridor. All functions are operated via remotes conveniently placed throughout the main salon and in the master suite as well as the staterooms. Should you need anything at all, there is a call button on each of the remotes. Are there any questions, ma’am?”

“No, thank you,” Deliza replied. “I’m sure we will be quite comfortable.”

“As soon as Mister Hiller has inspected the cargo, and I have checked that the ship is ready for departure, Sergeant Annakeros will be by to brief you on all the safety procedures for your journey.”

“Very well,” Deliza agreed.

“Mister Hiller, if you would please follow me aft, I will show you to the main cargo hold.”

“Thank you, Sergeant.” Yanni turned and smiled at Deliza as the sergeant headed aft. “I’ll be right back.”

CHAPTER SIX

Jessica entered the small office being used as an interrogation room at the Ghatazhak base on Porto Santo. The guard outside the door closed and locked it behind her as she approached the table in the middle of the room.

Jessica look
ed at the young woman sitting quietly on the other side of the table. She was about the same age as her, with long, wavy red hair that had been neatly tied back. She appeared fit and of average build, and had already been redressed in the standard orange jumpsuit given to all prisoners. The woman looked frightened, making only brief eye contact before looking away.

“Hello,” she greeted as she pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Nash.”

“Nash? Are you related to Captain Nash?”

Jessica looked at her oddly, surprised by her question. “I am. He is my brother.”

The women caught Jessica’s use of the present tense, relief washing over her face. “Then he is alive?”

“Yes, he is,” Jessica replied.

“We were speaking, and then there were explosions, and alarms, and… I was afraid he had done something terrible, that he…”

“Had blown himself up? Not exactly. I take it then, that you’re Kaya Allemahn?”

“Yes.”

“My brother spoke of you.”

“I hope he does not think badly of me,” she said. “I was only saying what I was told to say.”

“I think he figured that much out,” Jessica assured her. “That’s why I’m talking to you, instead of a Ghatazhak interrogator.”

“Ghatazhak?”

“The men that boarded your ship,” Jessica explained.

“Oh my, yes. They were very frightening. Such eyes… Without emotion… Like machines.”

“Yeah, they have their moments.”

“May I ask a question?” Kaya wondered.

“Sure.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re on an Alliance military base, on an island, in the middle of an ocean,” Jessica clarified.

“On what world?”

Jessica thought for a moment. “Well, you’re going to find out sooner or later… You’re on Earth.”

A look of panic flashed across Kaya’s face.

“Don’t worry,” Jessica told her, “there is no plague here. We’re not a bunch of crazed wacko’s trying to infect the galaxy. Surprise… The Jung lied to you.”

The panic turned to confusion as Kaya started to think things through. “But, this cannot be Earth. We were in that transport for only minutes. We could not have left the system…”

“Trust me, Kaya, you’re on Earth.”

“I do not believe you,” Kaya said, shaking her head. “What you say cannot be true.”

Jessica reached over and unlocked Kaya’s restraints. “Come here,” she said, motioning for Kaya to follow as she got up and headed for the window. She threw back the curtains, revealing a view of the Atlantic Ocean. “You have any oceans like that in the Tau Ceti system?”

Kaya rose and made her way cautiously to the window, unsure of what she’d find. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell agape as she looked out through the barred window at a vast ocean stretching out to the horizon. “This cannot be,” she whispered in disbelief.

“You’re just going to have to trust me on this one, Kaya,” Jessica said as she returned to her seat. “I don’t have any more evidence than that at the moment.”

Kaya continued to stare out the window in wonder as Jessica sat back down. “As far as I know, the Jung don’t allow women in their military. So what were you and your girlfriends doing aboard the Jar-Benakh? Civilian contractors? Tour group? Housekeeping? Am I getting any warmer?”

Kaya closed her eyes for a moment, overwhelmed by the realization that she had somehow been magically transported to another star system. But then she opened her eyes again, and that very reality was staring her in the face. “There are no such bodies of water on any of the Cetian worlds,” she muttered, the truth finally settling in.

“So, how about it?” Jessica pressed, “what were you doing aboard the Jar-Benakh?”

Kaya looked down in shame. “It is not something that a woman can easily talk about.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Jessica sighed. “Look, Kaya, nobody is judging you here. I’m just looking for answers. The Jung are bad, we all know that, so there’s no reason for you to feel ashamed.”

Kaya looked up again, her gaze returning to the ocean outside. “I have been on the Jar-Benakh for three years now. I was attending the university at Collend when I was taken. I was in my final year.”

“Taken by the Jung?”

“No, by Koharans. Men who sell young women to the Jung, as slaves.”

“Okay, that’s a different twist. These men, did they sell you to a Jung officer on the Jar-Benakh?”

“Technically, we belonged to the captain.”

“All of you?”

“Yes. He would share us with his officers, as rewards for good performance. Each night, they would come and choose their companion for the evening. Sometimes, they would keep us for the night, sometimes for the day. If we were lucky, one would favor us and convince the captain to let us serve the one officer for an extended period.” Kaya turned back to Jessica and started walking back to her seat. “It was often better than being ravaged by a different pig each night, especially if you were lucky enough to be selected by an officer that didn’t enjoy beating his companion.” Kaya sat down, holding her head up with some modicum of pride. “I was the favorite of Major Goya, and had been so for more than three weeks.”

“And Major Goya didn’t get off on beating women?”

“He was a pig, but he did not beat me.”

“What was the major’s job on the Jar-Benakh?” Jessica asked.

“He was chief of security. That is how I ended up speaking to your brother. The task of negotiating your brother’s surrender fell upon Major Goya. He was quite fluent in the Cetian languages, however his English was poor.”

“How is it
you
speak such good English?” Jessica wondered.

“I studied classic human languages at the university. English is considered the language of scholars. It was the universal language throughout the sector, up until the great plague.”

“Is that why the major chose you? Because you could speak English?”

“Partly. He hoped for a surface assignment on Earth, once the Jar-Benakh and the rest of the fleet were reassigned there.” A wry smile formed on her lips. “He would not have gotten that assignment. His English was very bad.”

“So, was this harem arrangement unique to the Jar-Benakh?”

“Before I was sold, I heard the men speaking of more than one ship. I heard them speaking about how to obtain more women, about making more money as more ships arrived. I believe they provided women to all the Jung ships.”

“That’s a lot of women to go ‘missing’ without explanation,” Jessica observed. “How is it no one noticed?”

“I have spoken with the other women. Most are like myself, from less-wealthy families, from small towns. Even if my parents were to ask, it is doubtful that anyone would do anything. The local authorities are not allowed to conduct criminal investigations and most families cannot afford to hire private investigators. Many of us were forced to send messages to our families, telling them lies about how we found wonderful new lives working for the Jung on other worlds.”

“To be honest, I’m a little surprised by all of this,” Jessica admitted. “I always thought the Jung military was more disciplined, that their officers had a sense of duty and honor.”

“It is different among each clan,” Kaya explained. “One of the women had been traded from the Jar-Toritor. She spoke of much better treatment than on the Jar-Benakh.”

“And that ship was run by a different clan?”

“Yes. The Mogan clan. The Jar-Benakh was of the Kirton clan.”

“Yet both clans are okay with keeping sex slaves onboard military ships?”

“They are men without women and they are a long way from home,” Kaya said, almost sympathetically. “It is expected of such men.”

“They couldn’t just have brothels on the surface, like everyone else?”

“Brothels?”

“Houses of prostitution,” Jessica explained.

“The Jung serving aboard ships rarely travel to the surface,” Kaya said. “At least not the officers.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting. The Jung do put a lot of boots on the ground, though.”

“They are of different clans, I suspect.”

“Interesting.”

“May I ask another question?”

“Go ahead,” Jessica replied.

“Will you be returning us to our homes?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Jessica admitted. She thought about all the Jung ships they had destroyed in recent months, wondering how many innocent young women had died, every time she had pressed a button to fire one of the Aurora’s weapons. “I can promise you one thing, though. None of you are going back to the Jung, that’s for sure.”

* * *

“Lieutenant Commander,” Commander Telles called after Jessica as she left the interrogation room.

Jessica turned back to face him. “What do you want, Telles?” she asked as she turned back and continued down the corridor to the exit.

“It’s
Commander
Telles, Lieutenant C
ommander,” he said as he followed her down the corridor, “and I would like a word with you, in private.”

“I’m a little busy right now,” Jessica said as she passed the guard station in the entry foyer and headed out the door.

“I can make it an order if you like?” the commander pressed as politely as possible.

“Don’t push your luck,” she remarked as she exited the building and descended the steps down to the walkway outside.

Commander Telles stopped at the top of the steps, standing fast, his hands behind his back as he spoke. “You will stop right there, Lieutenant Commander,” he barked, “or I will have you arrested and brought up on charges. Am I making myself clear?”

Jessica turned back to face the commander, her head cocked to one side and contempt in her eyes.

“Stand at attention, Lieutenant Commander!” the commander demanded.

Jessica begrudgingly straightened her posture into something resembling full military attention.

“I believe a salute is in order when in the presence of a superior officer.”

Jessica took a deep breath, stiffened up, and slowly raised her hand to her brow in salute, holding it fast until returned, as per protocol.

Commander Telles slowly descended the steps, making her hold the salute for as long as possible to make his point. He walked up to her, stopping a meter away, then raised his hand and returned her salute. “At ease, Lieutenant Commander.”

Jessica assumed a proper stance, her feet shoulder width apart and her hands clasped behind her back, again making an obvious effort to follow protocols. She stood there looking straight ahead, saying nothing.

“I would like a word with you… in private,” he repeated slowly. He pointed to an open courtyard to his left. “If you please.”

Jessica turned and walked over to the courtyard a few meters away, coming to a stop and resuming her original stance. “How may I help you, Commander?” she asked without emotion.

Commander Telles stood slightly less than a meter away from her. “What the hell is wrong with you, Lieutenant Commander? Making threats to a superior officer? Calling out my master sergeant? Insubordination, behavior unbecoming… Am I leaving anything out here?”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Jessica asked.

“Speak your mind, Lieutenant Commander.”

Jessica maintained her posture as she looked directly at the commander. “You know damn well what this is about, Telles. You said you’d get her off of that rock. You said you’d take care of it yourself, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Then where the fuck is she, Commander?”

“She is with Gerard and the CLA. He gave me his comm-frequency and authentication algorithm before he left. When we were ordered to withdraw, I knew we did not have the resources to come for her and that doing so would likely endanger her further. So I sent Gerard a message, told him to take her and go into hiding, and that we would attempt contact later, when it was safe.”

“That wasn’t the plan,” Jessica protested.

“Neither was withdrawing!” Telles argued, “and neither was losing half my men! In case you’ve forgotten, this is a fucking war we’re fighting. Shit doesn’t always go as planned. Now, when the opportunity presents itself, I
will
go in and get Naralena out,
myself
, or I
will
die in the attempt. Not because I made a promise to you, but because it is the right thing to do, and it will be the right time to do it. And just for the record, the Ghatazhak don’t
like
leaving people behind. We’re just smart enough, and strong enough to know that sometimes, the mission has to come first. And those that
get
left behind know that as well.”

Jessica stood there, saying nothing as the commander continued to stare at her. It was the most emotion she had ever seen him exhibit in all the months she had known him. She wanted to argue, but she had nothing to say. She knew he was right, and that she was wrong, and she wanted to apologize to him, but the words just wouldn’t form. Instead, all she said was, “Is there anything else, Commander?”

“Negative,” Commander Telles replied. “Actually, there is one more thing. I would recommend that you refrain from getting ‘in the face’ of any more of my men. They don’t all like you as much as the master sergeant and I do.”

A small grin threatened to peek out from the left side of Jessica’s mouth. “Yes, sir.”

Telles noticed the subtle change in her expression and decided that he had indeed accomplished this particular mission. “Dismissed.”

Jessica turned smartly and headed for the airfield. As she turned the corner between the buildings, Kata Mun and her porta-cam operator came walking toward her.

“Lieutenant Commander Nash,” Kata called out. “I was hoping we might see you. We heard you were on Porto Santo. Do you have time for an interview?”

“Now’s not a good time for me,” she said in all honesty. “However, there’s a few dozen Cetian women being held over in the interrogation center that you might want to interview.”

“Are we cleared for that?”

“I just cleared you. If they give you any guff, just ask to speak with Commander Telles, and tell him I said it was a good idea.”

* * *

Naralena looked out across the lake, watching the sunlight dance off the ripples in the water. It was peaceful here, more peaceful than she could ever remember. It was hard to imagine that she was in any danger and she had to remind herself not to let her guard down. The last time she ha
d let herself relax on this world, Gerard’s men had come bursting in the back door to rescue her and Jessica just as the Jung were breaking through the front door to arrest them.

She took in a full, deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but why are we sitting here again?”

“It’s what couples vacationing at a lake do, isn’t it?” Gerard posed.