Chapter 25

The bridge was mostly empty. There were several large monitors on the walls. There was a small crew working at their consoles. They all turned and face Lydia, Faith, and Simona as they entered. The bridge crew rose their hands up and placed them behind their heads. Captain’s chair quickly turned and there sat Amulius. Captain Jackson was staying close to him. Amulius’s hands were resting on the arms of his chair and Captain Jackson had his right hand resting on the handle of his sidearms.

“We can discuss this peacefully,” Amulius stated in his usual calm tone. “No else has to die.”

“Like the hell they don’t!” Faith screamed as she charged Amulius and Captain Jackson. She swung his katrat wildly at the two. She hacked and chopped, but her katrat stopped several centimeters short of striking its target. There was a force protecting the duo, but Faith didn’t stop and continued to attack in vain. Amulius pushed a button on his chair and the chair produced a large electrical charge that sent Faith flying across the bridge and slamming into a monitor on the wall. Her helmet flew off and she dropped her katrat.

“I see you improve to your personal shields,” Lydia said. “But it doesn’t matter. You lost Amulius, it’s over. I have enough info to bring not just SINDRI down, but Star Force as well.”

Amulius leaned back in his chair. His hands unlocked under his chin. “What do you want?”

“Freedom, Amulius,” Lydia said. “I want you to call off your dogs and I want to break all ties to SINDRI. I’m done working with you and your agenda. This goes for my crew as well.”

Amulius let out a big sigh. “I can’t grant you that. I always need a pretty thing by my side.”

“I’m done, Amulius.”

Amulius flashed a big smile. “I wasn’t talking about you, Lydia.”

Before Lydia could react, Simona raised her gun and blasted Lydia in the head. Lydia flew back a couple of meters. If it wasn’t for her helmet, Lydia’s head would have been torn in half. But her helmet suffered that fate. Her face was bleeding from some minor cuts, but she lived.

“You bitch!” Faith yelled. But before she could attack, Captain Jackson shot her in the neck with a strong sedative that could of knockout two drilli. She went down in seconds. Simona walked up the Lydia, pointing her rifle at point-blank range in Lydia’s head.

Amulius laughed. “Meet my new number two, Dr. Carson.”

Lydia wiped some of the blood off her face. “We met.”

###

Amulius flanked by Captain Jackson and Simona as they walked down the corridors of the brig on the Hannibal. The brig had five guests. The first was drillus captain, Ra-Mat-Wat. He sat in his cell waiting to be used or waiting to die, he preferred the latter. He had been the puppet leader of the civil war. Warren controlled him perfectly for months. Ra-Mat-Wat was wearing his old uniform. It was ripped and faded. It represented what he felt inside. He felt responsible for the deaths 100,000 of his kind. He faced the back on cell, tired of looking at the ‘soft skins.’ It was a reminder that he was defeated by one.

Piet, Ezi, Faith, and Lydia were all stripped of their gear and uniform. Piet was left wearing his form-fitting boxers that left nothing to the imagination and the women were wearing black panties and midriff tank tops.

Piet was nursing an injured leg. He knew he was no longer a threat, but he banged on the force screen and cursed at his host as they walked past his cell.

Ezi laid on the floor of the back of her cell. She wasn’t responding to any external stimuli. Warren studied the data about the shavili that he got from Lydia. He developed an agent that neutralized the bioelectricity in Ezi’s body. The agent made Ezi weak and disorientated, she came round for a few seconds and then passed out again. Simona paused briefly at Ezi’s cell. Simona’s eyes scanned the soft curves of Ezi’s legs and the way the tank-top hugged her body perfectly.

Faith’s cell was designed especially for her. She was stretched out in an X-formation. Her hands and feet were engulfed in small metal spheres. The spheres were connected by a wave of electricity to a large ring-like structure. Faith was basically floating, this kept her from getting any leverage.

“We should kill her and start over,” Simona said as she walked closer to Faith’s cell.

“She is too valuable of an asset to kill,” said the Captain. “But she is dangerous. Star Force might pay for another study and sacrifice more men and women for the project.”

“No more projects,” Amulius interrupted the two. “We just need to wipe her brain and reprogram her. She wouldn’t remember a damn thing.”

“That’s a pity.” Simona grabbed one of the knobs on the panel to Faith’s cell and twisted it to the right. The burst of electricity coursed through Faith’s body, it felt like tiny explosions going off in her body. Faith’s screams were music to Simona’s ears.

“I want her to remember that.” Simona laughed and flashed Faith a big smile.

Faith’s head was down. Her hair was covering part of her face. Tears and running down her cheeks. “No matter what they do to me,” she gasped. “I will kill you.”

Simona laughed again. “But not today.”

The trio made it to the last cell in the brig. Lydia was standing several centimeters from the screen.

“You made a big mistake.” Lydia directed her comments to Amulius. “I will bury SINDRI.”

“And Star Force as well,” Amulius added. “I don’t have to worry about that.”

Simona pulled out her datapad and held it up so Lydia could get a look.

“We have the client’s list,” Simona said. “It will be a matter of time before we get hold of the original. I follow your advice, Lydia. I got close to Ezi and the relationship benefited me a great deal.”

“It gave you the opportunity to hack, borrow, copy and steal the data,” Lydia said. “Well played, Simona.”

“Don’t pin a medal on her yet,” Captain Jackson said with a slight disgust in his voice. “Where’s the ship?”

“No need to play games,” Amuilus added. “You have been beaten. Tell me. Where are the ship and the data?”

Lydia smirked. “You’re so smart. Find it yourself.” She turned her back to the trio.

“Put her in restraints,” Amuilus told Simona. “Then take her to the Captain’s office.” He looked at Captain Jackson. “Do what you must? I need that data.”

Lydia didn’t resist. She held out her hands as Simona placed restraints around Lydia’s wrist and escorted her out of the cell.

Captain Jackson forcibly grabbed Lydia’s arm and pulled her in his direction. “Come with me.” The captain barked at her.

Lydia smiled. “Like I have a choice.”

Captain Jackson tried to reason with Lydia, but she wasn’t cooperating. He smacked her across the face. Knocking her out of the chair several times, but she remained quiet. He lifted her up by her tank top and slammed her against the wall. Blood was running from her nose and mouth. Her face was slowly covering up in bruises.

“What good are you if you don’t talk?” The Captain looked down Lydia’s shirt and her bare legs. “Maybe, there is something you can do for me.” He laughed and slowly placed his right hand on her upper inner thigh.

“If any part of you enters me,” Lydia whispered, “you won’t get it back. Besides, do you really want to add rape to your list of charges?”

The Captain smiled. “There isn’t any charges on me.”

“Ha!” Lydia yelled. “How do you think we found you?”

The Captain removed his hand off of Lydia and stepped back.

“Only the Board knows where the Hannibal is.” She spat out blood that was slowly collecting in her mouth. Lydia was going to use the only weapon she had left, her gift of manipulation. “The Board knows you are fucking up. They will be coming here to pull you out. You are no longer needed, Captain Jackson. But the good news is that you don’t have to be Amuilus’s lap dog anymore.”

The Captain’s face tightened with anger. “I’m nobody lap dog.”

“Bullshit!” Lydia snapped back. “You are Star Force, the Board, SINDRI and Amuilus. You’re everybody bitch.”

The Captain lowered his head.

“But there is still a chance for you.” Lydia coughed up some more blood. “Take us to shuttle before Star Force comes. I will take you to the data and let you do whatever you want with it. Maybe, you can bargain your own deal with Star Force, Admiral Jackson. It has a nice ring to it. Why stop there? You could blackmail yourself on to the Board. Think about the power you will have. Why let Amuilus and his new bitch hold all the cards?”

The captain folded his arms. “I’m listening.”

Lydia smiled. “With that type of power, you could kill Amuilus and take over SINDRI or destroy the whole thing. Make it your decision, not his.”

The Captain stroked his chin. “An interesting idea, if it was true.”

“Why you doubt me, Captain?”

The shift changed. Two security guards reported to duty on the brig. They were only armed with sidearms. They marched passed each cell, they briefly looked in on and the drillus and Piet. They paid some attention to Faith, but their main focus was on the shavili. They noticed she was coming around. She sat up in her cell, holding her knees up to her chest with her arms around them, slowly rocked back and forward.

“I had never seen one this close before,” one of the guards said. “She’s really beautiful.”

“I heard they are really dangerous too,” the other guard said.

“It’s a type of danger I would love to face.”

Ezi slowly moaned, but it wasn’t a moan of pain, it sounded more like pleasure. The shavili leaned her head back and let out a loud sigh of relief. Her hands caressed the top of her head and moved down her neck and rested on her chest. Ezi continued to moan, but it was more of a sound of discomfort. She sat up on her knees and folded her arms around her stomach.

“Are you alright?” one of the guards asked.

Ezi smiled. “Not really,” she answered.

“Do you need a doctor?”

“It’s not a doctor I need.” Ezi let out another moan. “I suffer from ‘Kumafu.’”

“Kumafu?” the guard repeated.

Ezi laughed, but it was interrupted by another moan. “You two are not familiar with my people.” She continued to hold her stomach. “My people have a very high drive.” Her hands caressed her legs. “I need something,” she begged. “I need it now or it will get worse.” Her breathing became labored. She rolled around in her cell, clawed her nails into the floor. She looked at the guards. “I need you in me!” she cried. She was on all fours. Tears were running down her cheeks. “Please, I beg you.”

The guard smiled and his eyes looked her over from head to toe. “I can’t promise I’ll be gentle.”

Ezi laughed. “I won’t.”

“Open the cell,” the guard ordered to the other.

“You sure it’s a good idea?” other guard asked.

“No,” he joked, “but it’s going to be worth it.” A big cheesy smile possessed his face. The screen with down and he entered the room. Ezi laid on her back with her arms extended to her side. Her legs were rubbing back and forward and slowly opened. He approached and carefully climbed on top. Her arms and legs wrapped around him as the two kissed. Her spicy aroma overpowered him. But the powerful head butt she delivered overpowered him more. His nose was broken as his blood sprayed all over her. She shoved him into the wall in the back of the cell. She quickly rose to her feet and rushed the other guard before he could close the cell door or hit the alarm. The guards were surprised how little they knew about the shavili. They were unaware of how strong and fast shavili were compared to humans. Ezi easily overpowered the guard and pushed him in the cell with his buddy. She ran to the control panel of the cell and locked them in. She deactivated Piet’s and Faith’s screens and released Faith’s restraints.

“Get to a shuttle,” Faith ordered. “I’ll get Lydia.” Faith walked by the Mar-tat’s cell. “It is time to go, captain.”

“No,” he said in a low shameful voice. “I don’t deserve to live as a drillus.” He looked Faith in the eyes. “Give me an honorable death so I could die like one.”

Faith lowered his screens and entered his cell. “Killing you now, would not give you an honorable death. It will be a coward’s death. You need to correct the wrong. You can’t do that when you are dead.”

“How do I correct the wrong?” he asked.

“You fight!” Faith answered. “Maybe not for the drilli, but for yourself. Revenge the death of the fallen. Warren is dead. You are no longer a puppet. You are a warrior, fighter. You are a drillus!”

A smiled returned to the old drillus’s face. His eyes narrowed. “Roat-At-Tat taught you well.”

“You were his teacher,” she added. “Do your student proud, Captain. Kill all of your oppressors!”

The drullus let loud deafen scream, which could only be called a battlecry. He ran out of his cell. No force on the ship would be able to stop him.

Faith headed towards Captain Jackson’s quarters.

Alarms went off throughout the ship. They warned the crew about the mad drillus running around the ship killing people. He wasn’t trying to escape. He was seeking revenge. He was atoning for all the drilli he killed. His distraction made it possible for Ezi and Piet to escape to the shuttle bay. They weren’t leaving yet, they were waiting to hear from Faith and Lydia.

“Time is running out Captain Jackson,” Lydia said with the confidence of a poker player holding a Royal Flush.

Before the Captain could respond, the ship rocked to the left. Like it was struck by a torpedo, the Captain was a little annoyed.

“What the hell is going on?” The captain yelled into the comm. Before the bridge could respond, the ship comm systems were hacked.

“This is Captain Britton of the SS Sirrocco,” the male voice of the comm said. “Prepare to be boarded.”

“Time’s up Captain,” Lydia smirked.

The Captain reached for his gun and aimed it at Lydia’s head. “It isn’t loaded with sedatives this time, bitch!”

Lydia closed her eyes. Trying to block out everything, including the slug that was about to enter her skull. Then she heard the shot. The round whistled past her ear as she also heard the blunt sound right in front of her. She opened her eyes and saw Faith tossing the Captain around the room. He crashed into the monitors and broke some bones as he slammed into the walls. Faith quickly looked at Lydia and was the blood and bruises that covered her lover’s face. Faith let out a loud growl and grabbed the Captain by his neck and lifted him off his feet.

“Simona... was... right.” The captain struggled to get his words out. “You... are... a fucking animal. You bashed in skulls,” he caught his breath, “to satisfy... your lust... for death.”

Faith let out another growl.

The Captain laughed. “I don’t understand. How anyone can love a monster like you?”

Faith’s eyes tightened as well as her grip around his neck.

“I see and feel your rage,” the Captain continued. “Are you going to snap my neck?”

Faith let out a long deep breath. She slightly loosened her grip, for a moment and the Captain’s feet were firmly on the floor. Then she put both hands around his neck and both her feet on his.

“I will show you the monster you fear,” Faith said. She tightened her grip and quickly crushed his windpipe, but she wasn’t finished. With her feet firmly on his, she pulled his head upward. She heard the tearing of his flesh around his neck and shoulders. Blood gushed out every, sprayed over her and wall. She pulled and his spinal cord stretched until it ripped. She let out one last scream as his head was separated from his body. His body dropped and his head fell out of her hands. She stared at her work as tears ran down her cheeks.

“Faith,” Lydia yelled to snap Faith out of the trance. Faith didn’t hear Lydia until the third time.

“We got to get out of here,” Lydia explained.

“Ezi and Piet are in the shuttle bay,” Faith said calmly. The ship rocked several times as Star Force continued to attack the Hannibal.

Lydia ran over the Captain headless body and took the key from his jacket pocket. She quickly took off the restraint. She went over to the Captain’s desk and used the comm to connect the shuttle bay.

“This is Lydia.”

“Go ahead, Lydia,” Ezi replied.

“What’s the status?”

“We have a shuttle and ready to go,” Ezi continued. “Star Force had boarded the Hannibal and they making sweeps of the ship. You need to get here soon.”

“We’re not going to make it,” Lydia said. “We can’t afford Star Force locating you two. Take off and meet Vlad at the checkpoint. We’ll find another way.”

Amuilus had assessed the situation. Star Force had boarded the Hannibal. He was aware and that the prisoners had escaped. He had to make final preparations. He downloaded all the intelligence onto his datapad. He and Simona went to his quarters. He sat down at his workstation and entered a series of code, within matters of seconds hundreds of SINDRI’s staffers’ heads exploded. Amuilus wasn’t going to leave any shreds of evidence. He looked at Simona.

“Be happy that your crew didn’t get these upgrades.”

“Noted,” Simona answered.

“It is time to make our exit.” He walked to the wall and pressed his hand up against it. The wall lowered and a secret room was revealed, but the room looked like the interior of a small shuttle. “Strap yourself, my dear.” He directed her to the co-pilot chair. “This might be a bumpy ride.”

Simona sat in the chair. “You amazed me, Amuilus.”

Amuilus sat in the pilot’s seat and fired up the engine. “This shuttle is the smallest known ship with a jumpdrive and a stealth system.” He entered some coordinate and the shuttle separated from the Hannibal and raced to the nearest jump point.

“Where are we going?”

Amuilus smiled. “To build a better galaxy.”

Lydia and Faith were avoiding Star Force, but kept on running into headless bodies that were former employees of SNIDRI. They made it one of Lydia’s old labs. In the back of the lab was an escape pod. But it wasn’t regular pod. It was refitted with cryotechnology. It was shaped like a large glass and metal coffin. Lydia entered the five-digit code on the keypad and the door opened.

Faith stood in front of the pod, made a quick observation and looked at Lydia. “There is only room for one.”

“I know,” Lydia answered and pushed Faith into the pod and shut the door.

“What the hell are you doing?” Faith yelled.

Lydia’s eyes watered. “I can’t afford Star Force to get a hold of you. You will never be free. I’m turning myself in, so they won’t look for you.” She entered a series of codes.

Faith banged on the glass, but it didn’t crack or budge.

“I love you, Faith,” Lydia said.

“Lydia!” Faith yelled.

Lydia briefly rested her hand on the glass and kissed it. Faith mirrored Lydia’s actions.

“We’ll always have Kargak,” Lydia said. She entered the final code and the pod launched into space.

Lydia dried her tears and walked into the hallways. A squad of Star Force’s soldiers dressed in heavy body armor with helmet and armed with assault rifles. They came across Lydia and pointed their rifles at her. She raised her hands over her head.

“My name is Dr. Lydia Carson. I’m wanted for interstellar war crimes against the Drilli’s republic.”

The soldiers motioned her to kneel and she complied with that order. The lieutenant pulled up Lydia’s dossier and warrant on his datapad. “It’s her.” His voice was muffled by his helmet.

Lydia placed her hands behind her head. “I’m turning myself in.”

Amuilus made sure that there weren’t evidence that link SINDRI to the drilli’s civil war or the existed of SINDRI. No one on the Sirocco heard about SINDRI. Star Force was ordered to extract Captain Jackson from hostile forces. When they discovered the Captain decapitated corpse, they assumed that he was executed. He was given a hero’s funeral and Lydia was charged with his death as well as interstellar war crimes. That was the official story.