Chapter Six
Unauthorized Access
It was dark, and the moon had not risen yet to give much light. On the bridge, Pax watched the Minky screen that was connected to a night-vision camera. Lumps of half-eaten and half-decayed bodies covering the ground showed on-screen as they passed.
Pax’s upper lip curled at the sight.
Dol, who stood next to him looking at the bodies whispered, “This is exactly what it looked like.”
Sci stood off to the side near his wife, but still close to the Minky screen. “Two survivors hear us and are making their way towards the sound.”
Without Sci having to say a word, the ship slowed to a stop. Pax watched carefully for any movement. Three minutes later, he saw two males running their way.
“Dol.” Pax pointed to the container. “I want you to know I really appreciate you doing this. I know you may not want to live in a container until all the survivors are sanitized and cleared, but it’s better that they have someone to talk to. Someone who knows what’s going on.”
Dol nodded his head. “I hated not knowing what would happen to me. I’m just glad I can help someone else.” Then he turned and walked to the end of the ship and went through the double air-locked doors to the container that Ansel had set up. It had basic supplies, food, and the ability to wash, destroy their dirty clothes, and get new ones. It also would seal itself and be safe for transporting through the atmosphere and into space.
The transporter touched down. Sasha closed off the walkway from the aircraft to the container so the survivors couldn’t get inside the ship. Then she opened the door for the quarantine area. At the sound of Dol calling out to them, the men sprinted forward even faster than before.
Dol had his hand out and pulled both men up into the container, and then Sasha closed the doors.
She was silent, but Pax knew that Sci was giving her telepathic directions. The ship began moving, and Pax turned on the audio for the container so he could listen to Dol explain who he was and what they were doing.
Dol also asked if both men had been to Yerg.
Both admitted they had, and had sworn never to return because they had gotten so sick.
Pax looked at Sci. “Ansel figured it out, didn’t he? He knew exactly where the cure would be.”
Sci turned. “Ansel is very smart and very driven to help others.”
“Do you harbor any resentment for him messing with your head?”
Sci turned back to the screen. “No. He did what he was told to do. And he did so thinking I would hurt the crew. “
Pax hadn’t trusted Sci when they first meet.
He was happy that Ansel had been able to disrupt his telepathic and telekinetic tendencies. But after they had been captured together by space pirates, Pax saw the benefit of having a telepath in the group.
Sci’s eyebrows flinched. “There is another survivor here. But she is terrified. She’s trying to hide until we leave.”
“We can send Dol,” Pax said and flicked on the voice call to tell the male to go and get the survivor. Being an empath, Dol would be able to control her emotions and lull her into feeling safer so that she didn’t fear coming on board.
Sci stopped him and pointed at the screen. “She’s armed, and she shoved herself into a hole between the walls.” Sci tapped again. “And she just realized that we’re not moving on. I can bring her to us, but she’s not going to like it.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Pax asked, wondering if this was when he’d find out that Cerebrals really could take over someone’s mind.
“I’m telekinetic, remember? I can lift her up and bring her here.”
Pax whistled, pleased with Sci’s answer. “She’s going to be pissed.” Then he smiled. “Do it.”
***
All seven survivors had been gathered. Pax was with Sci when he reported the names of the survivors and all of the information he’d gleaned from their minds to the captain. Ansel was already processing their vitals.
Inside the container next to the lab on the outside of the ship, all the survivors had been cleaned, fed, and re-dressed. All seven, including the female who Sci had lifted out of her hiding spot, were grateful to be off the planet.
Six hours had passed since Garna took off towards Brica, and Pax assumed that Vivra would have more information for him.
In his empty office, his Minky screen was on, playing Kirca music because he hated the silence. There were some things that he couldn’t abide, one was quiet. He could endure being alone, at least for a time, but silence for any amount of time was too much.
He cracked his neck by tilting his head to the side and tried to focus on the weapons inventory.
Main tactical weapons: railguns, torpedoes, cannons, and anti-torpedo measures.
Fighter ship weapons: nebula missiles. Magnetic pulse missiles. Sensor-disruptor missiles. Chaffs. And angle flares.
Land defense weapons: toy-crawlers, Red Windsors, and fully armored medical transporters.
Hand-held weapons: multi-phasers.
The weapons list was fine, but Pax needed to know more about Brica.
Selecting Vivra’s name, he initiated a voice call on the Minky screen, lowering the music but not turning it off. Three prompts later, he heard her voice. “Commander.”
“I need the numbers for how many workers are in that mine. Their schedules, everything.”
He heard her exhale loudly as if he were putting her out. “I’m working on it.”
“Still working?” he asked impolitely, letting her know that he thought she was taking too long. He still needed her to know where he stood.
There were several moments of silence. Pax wished he had initiated a video call.
“Clalls has pinged the Cenlura mine every fifteen minutes. We can verify the transmission’s being received, but there has been no response.” Pax didn’t miss that the action had been done by Clalls and not her.
“Cenlura can’t be the only mine on that planet. How many others are there? Have they been attacked, too? It’s hard to plan a mission with no information.”
He heard her breathing but nothing else. He hoped that she was doing something productive, but she sounded scattered. Pax felt that a ship only ran as efficiently as the least-productive crew member. If she couldn’t keep up with her job, then something needed to be done.
She had a lot of responsibilities before and during his mission. He would need to depend on her.
“…I don’t know.”
Not helpful. “How did you find the contact number for Cenlura mine? Where it located on the planet?”
Silence.
“Vivra?”
“I don’t know current specifics, but about fifty years ago, there were thirty-eight active mines. Cenlura had just over fifteen hundred workers, and it’s an underground mine.”
Fifty years ago? What good was that information? “I’m going to need something a little closer to this star year, sweetheart?” The sweetheart just came out because he was from Kirca, and Demons calling things they liked sweet things was natural. He also knew it would be an issue the second it came out of his mouth.
“I’m not your sweetheart, and if you call me that again, I’ll file a report.”
He was not afraid of her report. So, he continued, “And I’ll file a report if you can’t do your job. Now, get me something I can use, not a history report on what happened fifty years ago.”
The line went dead.
She had terminated the call.
He stared at the black screen. “How very unprofessional, Vivra.”
Sending out another request for communication, he initiated a video call. She accepted but ignored him. Speaking to another Minky screen, she said, “Clalls, the Merimore just arrived to pick up their shipment from Ula.” Vivra’s eyes looked at another screen, then they narrowed, and she whispered something to herself.
Pax was about to say something about her terminating the call insubordinately when she cursed and then cut her eyes at the video call he had established with her. “I’m busy right now, Commander, you’re going to have to wait for more information.” And then the video communication ended, as well.
Pax stood up. Stuffing his Minky pad into the side pocket of his pants, he left his office.
Vivra, sweetheart, I don’t think you understand how this whole thing works. He wasn’t going to stop being a commander. He had a job to do, and he would push her until he got the information he needed. Besides, he was a Red Demon….
Vivra’s office was on level six. Stepping inside logistics, he saw a wall of transparent Minky screens. There had to be at least forty of them, and one that wrapped in a full circle around her desk with only a space to enter. Vivra was in the middle, her fingers typing furiously, her eyes switching back and forth between three screens to her immediate right.
Her nose flared before she said, “As I said, Captain An-Kor, Brica is off-limits until the threat is contained.” Then she touched something on the screen, and the video communication with Clalls popped up. She told him, “The captain says the Ula mine is nowhere near the Cenlura and should be out of the danger zone.”
Clalls’ voice echoed from one of the Minky screens. “What’s the ship’s name again?”
“The Merimore.”
“Got it. It’s an eve cargo ship…initiating ping.” A few moments of silence passed. Pax watched the two of them working, and wasn’t sure when and where to interject his authority to get some sort of control over the lack of security on the planet.
Clalls’ dragon teeth were exposed as he spoke. “Captain An-Kor. This is Garner’s communications officer, Clalls. Under the orders of Admiral Orin, I’m ordering you back to your ship. You need to relocate to star point 43.546 immediately.”
A male voice carried over the Minky screen. “I have a shipment to pick up, and a deadline to make. I am aware of the threat and take full responsibility for my crew. But I am approaching, and unless my instruments are broken, you’re nowhere in the vicinity to stop me.” An-Kor’s voice sounded old and scratchy.
Clalls responded threateningly. “There is a full stop for Brica. You are entering unauthorized airspace. I am sending you the orders now. You will not enter that planet’s atmosphere.”
Vivra touched her earpiece, and Pax heard her say “Yes, I’ll wait.” Then she gave him a small shrug and moved her head to the side as if shielding the noise from the Minky screen with her voice call.
With a smile on her lips, she then said, “Hi, Admiral. It’s Vivra.”
The crotchety captain also spoke, but he was responding to Clalls. “I may not be Federation, Clalls, but you should understand the meaning of keeping your word. And I’m keeping mine. You can’t stop me. And that’s justification enough for me to keep going.”
Pax had missed what Vivra had said to the admiral, but he didn’t miss the lighthearted laugh before she added, “I’ll patch you through now.”
Pax really had no control over the situation. And, he had to admit, it was being handled decently, so there was nothing to be gained by interjecting himself.
“Captain An-Kor. This is Admiral Orin.” Way too many calls going on at the same time, in Pax’s opinion. “I’m ordering you to back away from Brica immediately.”
“Well, Admiral, we have a little bit of a problem then because I am already descending and unable to change trajectory until I’m out of the planet’s thermosphere.”
That made sense, the cargo ship was enormous, but the captain shouldn’t have entered in the first place. Pax was enthralled by the resourcefulness of the sweet beauty who didn’t hesitate to call up an admiral. It made her even sexier. Bold and resourceful? He might need more than one night with her.
He would need a week, at least.
“When my team gets to that planet, I’m ordering them to seize your ship. Be ready to be boarded and to hand over your command. Transmission over.”
Pax wanted to say something, but Vivra was speaking to Clalls again, giving him the coordinates of the rogue Federation ship. After that, she whirled around, still typing, but she finally addressed him. “I’m busy, Commander.”
She looked it.
Pax couldn’t leave yet. He needed her eyes, her attention. Yes, she was busy, and he understood why he didn’t get the information until just a little bit ago. It wasn’t a game. She was just working.
She wasn’t playing him. He felt that truth. Innately. His chest constricted. A genuine Bolark?
“I see that. And I’m actually impressed.”
Vivra stopped typing. Her lips pursed, and her eyes slowly cut towards him. Had Pax found a certain Bolark’s soft spot? The air fairly hummed with the electronics and her focused and unexpressed rage towards him.
“You’re impressed?” Her tone mocked her sincerity. “Because I’m a Bolark, or because I’m female? Or both?”
He didn’t answer.
“In one short day, I’ve been assessed and given a level of ability. And in less than ten hours, I’ve exceeded that level of ability and impressed you.” She patted her heart. “That makes me …”—her expression morphed from a smile to a look of concern—“fear for the Federation’s future if someone with your in-depth abilities has made it to the rank of commander. Really, it’s very alarming.”
Her words, no doubt meant to cut him, did nothing but make him want to grab her face and bite her for being so damn sexy. Really, there were no words for how her gold skin brought out the ire in her green eyes when she was pissed.
And because he couldn’t stop himself, he responded with, “You’re right, it’s very encouraging. Demons are a cut above the rest. We’ve been known to have spot-on first instincts,” he added with a slow, arrogant smile.
If her eyes were phasers, she would have shot his face off. “Why are you still here, Commander? I have nothing more to offer you with regards to the planet.” The tension in her face, shoulders, and stance told him how much she was keeping the better part of her anger in check. Her words, though…those seemed to come out regardless.
Returning to her screens, she brought up a picture of a dark grey planet. Taking her hands, she widened the image to full screen and then double-tapped the center.
Deciding to follow the conversation back to Brica too cool her tirade, he said, “You’re going to keep an eye on the Merimore, right? Let me know what it does when it touches down. We’re going to need to tag it when we get there.”
Her words were barely a whisper through clenched teeth. “Of course.”
Pax was a Demon, Vivra was his current obsession. Which is why he couldn’t stop pushing her. It was ingrained in his race when pursuing a bed partner. He needed his hooks in deep to make any emotional memories she had, something she would never forget. “Most likely, the Merimore is going to try and take off before we can reach the planet. We will need to alert the other Federation ships and set up a perimeter so it doesn’t get very far.” The task would have properly fallen to Clalls. Being communications officer, he should be the one to set up the perimeter, but Pax wanted to spin the orders and really dig in to see how far he could push Vivra.
She shook her head and said with her voice almost breaking, “I know how to do my job, Commander. Once I do my job, I will inform you. Now, get out of my office.”
He held up his hands. The heat in Vivra’s eyes almost had him panting like a little pup. So close. She was going to snap, and he needed to see it. Needed it to be him that did that to her. “All right, all right, but one more thing, I also think now would be a good time to talk about that whiskey.”
Vivra’s sharp and unyielding gaze snapped to him. She reached down and grabbed something from her side pocket, then pulled it out and pointed it at him. “So help me, Seth of Stars, if you don’t get out of my office, I’ll remove you myself.”
A weapon. Nice. Pax exhaled slowly, feeling the victory in his blood tingling in his heart and through his veins. This was her first instinct. To fight back. And not to threaten his rank, but his body.
Could she be any sexier?
He needed to bite her. Hard.
But he also recognized a pixy pistol when he saw one. It was not an actual gun but a blast of magnetic glitter putty. And once it landed on you, it would spread until it consumed you. It’d kill you if you didn’t stop the spread. Asphyxiation by sparkles.
Dropping his hands, he backed up. “Well played, Viv. I’ll wait for your message.”
She held the pistol on him until he backed all the way out of the room and the door slid shut.