Chapter 3

Faith’s martial arts skills were impressive before the AMPED, now they were parallel to none. She was deadly with all known forms of firearms. No human in the galaxy could match her fighting skills. Faith wasn’t a pilot and the group felt it wasn’t necessary to train her in that area. Maybe in the near future, she could learn how to pilot, but for now, she would have to be part of a team. Overall, Amulius, Lydia and Captain Jackson pleased with the progress that Faith was making. Faith wasn’t just a weapon, she was becoming a force of nature. But unlike a force of nature, Faith can be controlled. In the briefing room in the Hannibal, the three discussed the future of their new toy.

“She is more powerful than ever,” Captain Jackson said as he leaned back in his chair with a big smile on his face. “When is she going to see some real action?” His smile quickly turned into a scowl.

“In due time, Captain,” Amulius answered. “It has only been a week. She is still adjusting to the AMPED and its side effects.”

“We have to remember, Captain,” Lydia said. “Faith is strong, but the Drilli are stronger. We don’t want to get our asset kill during her first mission.”

Captain Jackson slammed his fist on the table so hard that Lydia’s datapad bounced. “Dammit Amulius! Star Force invested a lot of resources to this project. Do I have to remind you that sixteen of my soldiers died trying to capture her? And twenty of my people died during your experiments. I have the rights to call the shots when it deals with her.”

“Remember, Captain,” Amulius said. “Star Force unofficially funded this project. The Nessians would not look too kind in Earth’s official involvement.”

“I don’t care what those diamond skins think.” The captain calling the Nessian by the nickname the humans gave them.

“You should,” Lydia said as she picked up her pad. “If it wasn’t for ‘those diamond skins,’ we will still be on the third rock from the Sun. Humankind has advance over two hundred years because of them. We wouldn’t have colonized other star systems without the Nessians. They lobbied for us to join the United Planets Association. They are our oldest and strongest ally.”

The captain threw his hands in the air. “Then why won’t they help us with these Drilli conflicts?” He pointed his finger at Lydia. “With the Nessians help, we could slaughter all of those damn baboons.”

“We are not at war with the Drilli.” Lydia maintained a calm demeanor. She didn’t want to get into a shouting match with the captain. “They are not going to help us to fight them.”

“These conflicts could lead to war.” The captain was referring to a series of skirmishes with the Drilli over the years.

“They had offered to broker peace talks between us and the Drilli.” Lydia’s voice started to rise in volume.

The captain stood from his chair and yelled, “That is not the help we need, you stupid girl!”

Lydia wasn’t going to let that insult go unanswered. She stood up. “You fat son of a bitch!” she yelled. “Use your fucking head! You know that lump of clay that is about a meter above your ass!”

The Captain let out a big belly laugh. “I didn’t expect that type of language from a doctor.”

“You two sit down.” Amulius had to interrupt them. The two did what he ordered. Amulius knew the conversation was no longer productive. He wanted to focus on the facts. “The Nessians are not going to help us wage war, Captain,” he said in his typical calm tone. “But back to the Captain’s original question. When is she going to see real action? I think we should give her some. Not against the Drilli. We need a soft target.”

The Captain folded his arms across his chest. He stared at Amulius. “Like what?”

“Alessio Orlando.”

“The slaver?” The sound of disappointment in the captain voice was obvious.

“He does have a standing army of two hundred mercenaries,” Lydia said. “It will be a good field test.” She glared at the Captain. She was letting him know that she didn’t forget about the ‘stupid girl’ comment.

“No weapons,” Amulius ordered. “Let’s see if she could improvise.”

Lydia rolled her eyes and turned to Amulius. “Can she at least have body armor? Or you just want to send her in butt ass naked.”

Annoyed by Lydia’s comment, Amulius chose to ignore it. “Get her ready for the mission,” he said.

“Yes, sir.” Lydia walked out of the briefing room.

Pacing in her quarters, Faith more anxious than normal. She already been to the training room several times this morning, but nothing calmed her down. Several more fist indentations were in the wall. She felt like a caged animal. Lydia entered the room. Normally, Faith would snap at anyone that just showed up, but Lydia was different. For some strange reason, Faith trusted Lydia. Maybe it was Lydia’s red hair and green eyes. Faith’s mother also had those features. Faith considered Lydia a friend, but Lydia didn’t feel the same way. To the doctor, Faith was still a project.

“I have a mission for you.”

Faith’s eyes perked up as she saw it as an opportunity for a release. “What’s the mission?” Faith couldn’t hide her excitement.

Lydia handed Faith the datapad. “His name is Alessio Orlando. He is a slaver. He trafficking human and Shavili slaves to the Drilli. His base of operation is on the planet of Liber. We want that base shut down.”

“Shavili?” Faith questioned. “I’m not familiar with them.”

“The Shavili are a matriarchy species,” Lydia explained. “We made first contact with them about eight years ago. They are a warrior species, much like the Amazons from Earth’s mythology. The only difference was they have no hair and are purple.”

“Purple?”

“Most human find them attractive.”

Faith reviewed the data on the pad. “Why Star Force doesn’t shut him down?”

“Star Force is focusing on future Drilli’s threats. They don’t have time to worry about Alessio, but we do. Consider this a field test. You will have body armor, but no weapons. Amulius wants to see if you can improvise.”

“I will accept his challenge.” Faith killed dozens of people without using any weapons. She didn’t think was much of a challenge.

“I will be coming with you.”

Faith got a warm feeling in her stomach and felt the blood rushed to face. Pleased that Lydia was coming but didn’t want the doctor to know. “Why?” Faith wanted to know the reason for Lydia company.

“Amulius doesn’t trust you to fly one of his ships,” Lydia said. “You might not come back.” Lydia stared at the young woman to the point that Faith became uncomfortable. “I don’t mean to stare, but you are well-spoken for a slave. The other prisoners and slaves we encountered were broken, to put it simply.

Faith smiled and let out a small chuckle. “You expect me to grunt and groan. I like I said to you and Amuilus earlier, I wasn’t raised as a slave. Roat-At-Tat raised me as his daughter. He just didn’t train me physically, but mentally. I’m well-read in both Earth and Drilli cultures. Drilli are a hostile and violent race, but also an intelligent one.”

“You were treated like an equal.”

“Only by Roat-At-Tat, the others treated me differently,” Faith looked down at the datapad. “They treated me like an object of desire.”

“They ever...”

“No,” Faith interrupted. “Only one was stupid enough to try.”

Lydia saw this as an opportunity to probe deeper into Faith’s psyche. “What happened?”

Faith’s eyes started to water. “Why you always do this to me?” She was uncomfortable talking about it, but she trusted Lydia. Faith placed the datapad on the bed. “I was sixteen years old. I was developing in something that they desire. The other Drilli noticed me. I wasn’t naive, I knew what they wanted. I saw what they did to my mother. They weren’t going to do it to me. Most of the Drilli at the prison knew to stay away. They didn’t want to face the wrath of Roat-At-Tat. One day, he was away from the prison, a young Drillus broke into our home. He wanted to do what the other Drilli wanted to do.” Tears started to run down her cheeks.

Lydia grabbed Faith’s hand. “You don’t have to continue.” It was Lydia settle way to manipulate Faith to share more.

Feeling the warmth of Lydia’s hand compelled Faith to continue. “He stared at me with those red eyes. Even though Roat-At-Tat treated me like a daughter, I was a slave. I had to wear slave clothing which was revealing. The drillus lusted over my body, drool fell from his snout. He was getting excited. He said, ‘Roat-At-Tat shouldn’t keep you for himself. He needs to share.’ I got into my fighting stance and told him to come and get it. I showed confidence and strength, I didn’t want the Drillus to see fear. To be honest with you, I was terrified. Only Drillus I fought was Roat-At-Tat during sparring and he took it easy on me. This Drillus was going to try to hurt me or worse. The monkey rushed at me, which was a mistake.

He swung. I caught his punch and used his momentum to flip him over my head. Sending him flying across the room into the wall. He got back up. He grabbed a katrat off the weapon rack.”

“Katrat?”

“It is a Drilli’s sword,” Faith explained, “my favorite weapon. It was heavy to me at first, but once I got used to the weight, I mastered it. He came at me swinging it wildly. The Drillus thought his strength would overpower me. But the katrat was about balance and speed, not raw power. I countered his attacks, blocking all them with ease. He didn’t stand a chance. I was toying with him, making him look stupid. I used the katrat and disarmed him. I jumped and roundhouse kicked him on his temple, which of one of the pressure point Roat-At-Tat taught me. The blow knocked the bastard down on to his back. I stood over him pointing the katrat at his throat. I told him to leave and never come back, but I forgot an important lesson.”

“Which was?” Lydia asked.

Faith sat down on the bed and rubbed her hands together. “When you were sparring, one would stop when you have the advantage. But this was a real fight. I should have killed him right then. In hand to hand combat, Drilli aren’t just stronger, but crafty. This bastard concealed some kind of green liquid in his mouth. He spat it in my eyes, which blinded me for a couple of seconds. That was enough time to attack. He grabbed my wrist and forced the katrat out of my hand. He head-butted me, almost knocking me out. Then he backhanded me, sending me flying to the floor. I have never been hit so hard. I was dazed and had trouble getting up. He ran over to me pinned my arms over my head and pulled down his pants. I had flashbacks of my mother being raped. I remembered her screams.” Faith covered her ears and rocked back and forward.

Lydia knew that Faith needed a push to continue. She placed her arms around Faith’s shoulder to comfort the young woman. “I know this is hard for you.”

Faith uncovered her ears and placed her hand on Lydia’s knee. “But I was a fighter. This wasn’t going to happen to me. I was able to muster enough strength and kicked him in the most vital pressure point on his body. I managed to break his grip and ran towards my katrat, but he grabbed my ankle and knocked me down. He pulled me closer to him. I kicked him, first on the snout, another pressure point, and then the eyes. He let go of my ankle. I ran and got my katrat. The Drillus got back on his feet and ran after me. I charged him. I rammed the katrat into his stomach with such force that he was pinned to the wall. He let out a toe-curling scream. The wound wasn’t enough to kill him. I didn’t want him dead yet. I punched him repeatedly in the face, turning it to a bloody pulp, but I didn’t stop. I continued to punch. I yelled, screamed and cursed at the asshole. His blood was flying all over me. I didn’t care. I pounded him until the bastard was dead. I dropped to my knees. I never killed anybody before.” Faith placed her head down and started to cry and looked at her hands. “They were covered with his blood.”

“You must have been horrified,” Lydia said.

Faith wiped off her tears. “When Roat-At-Tat arrived, I was still on my knees crying. The Drillus was still pinned to the wall with his blood dripping on the floor. When I saw Roat-At-Tat, I hugged him. I wasn’t going to let go. He placed his arms around me and whispered. ‘Good soldier. You did good.’”

Lydia hugged Faith. “You killed a Drillus in hand to hand combat. Few humans can make the claim.”

Faith enjoyed the embrace. It made her feel closer to Lydia. Faith’s lips curled into a full smiled. “He trained me well.”

“There you go with that pretty smile.” Lydia comment came off like a flirt.

Faith blushed, changed the subject, picked up the datapad and reviewed the information. “He has an army of two hundred?”

Lydia nodded. “His army is well trained. It will be a good test for you.” Lydia placed her hand on Faith’s knee and squeezed a little. Lydia knew exactly what she was doing, sending a sign that she wanted a less than a professional relationship. Her motivation was to develop trust, so Faith would do what Lydia wanted. “Let’s send Alessio Orlando a message.”

“What type of message?” Faith asked.

Lydia looked into Faith’s blue eyes and said, “A violent one.”