Craing Dominion (Scrapyard Ship Book 5) Read online

  “Absolutely. We can talk in my ready room.” Brian wiped his hands on a rag and made his way to a hatch on a starboard-side bulkhead. Jason and the admiral followed him into an elaborately decorated compartment. Adorned with dark wood paneling and more of the ship’s gold-painted scrollwork, Jason and the admiral spun about, taking it all in.

  “I know, pretty cheesy. But you get used to it. Hell, I think I’m even starting to like it,” Brian said, taking a seat behind a large leather-topped desk.

  Jason and the admiral took the two chairs facing him. “So, taking Bristol with you?” Jason asked.

  “He knows this ship. Anything happens with the cloaking device, he’ll be needed to get it up and running.”

  Jason nodded slowly. “Who else?”

  Brian and the admiral exchanged a quick glance. “Um, of course, Betty will be here, and an engineering and security force, but I was going to talk to you—we … were going to talk to you,” Brian said. “We also need someone in the military who has competent bridge-handling experience. Someone who could jump from navigation to comms to tactical.”

  Jason was already getting ready to object. There was no way he was giving up Gunny …

  “So, I thought of Lieutenant Commander Perkins. Strictly on a one-time loan basis,” Brian added.

  Jason held his tongue and tried to look as if he was fighting some inner decision-making battle. The truth was, Jason could not have been more relieved.

  Jason let out a breath and nodded reluctantly. “So you want my XO?”

  Brian nodded and shrugged apologetically.

  “As long as it’s for this one mission only.”

  Brian smiled and looked generally pleased. The admiral, who had worked with Perkins even longer than Jason, didn’t buy Jason’s act and gave him a sideways glance.

  “So what’s the plan here? You’ll take Her Majesty into Craing space. What then?” Jason asked.

  “We’ll act as a base there, maintaining a cloaked presence, ready to assist the on-planet team, as necessary.”

  The admiral spoke, “We’ve actually put quite a bit of thought into this mission, Captain. If all goes well, Gaddy and Ricket’s presence won’t evoke any suspicion. Gaddy has not visited her uncle, or the Emperor’s Palace, in some time. Apparently, Gaddy was close to her uncle—his favorite niece. In fact, bringing a boyfriend along may evoke some initial tension, but it should be expected from someone her age.”

  “Ricket is no spring chicken—what is he, two hundred years old? Two ten? And he’s stiff, nothing like I’d imagine a young Craing graduate student would act,” Jason said, shaking his head.

  This time Brian interjected, “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. The last thing we want is an overly suave character showing up with Gaddy. Actually, he’s the perfect type: a nerdy, post-grad science guy.”

  “But his looks? He looks like Emperor Reechet, and before that, Dr. Reechet, the famous Craing scientist,” Jason countered.

  “Already dealing with that aspect, as we speak. Ricket is currently undergoing physical alteration within a MediPod. It’s temporary, lasts about one week before his own natural bone structure returns to normal,” the admiral said.

  “Sounds like you have it all figured out,” Jason mused. “How about him gaining access to the Minian? Gaddy’s boyfriend or not, they’re not going to let Ricket wander around secured areas unescorted.”

  “Ricket’s come up with a few ingenious devices to get him into those areas unobserved. He’ll be wearing a belt that looks no different from any other young Craing’s attire, only this belt will be tied into his internal nano-devices and will provide all the same phase-shift capabilities as those worn on our battle suits. He’ll also be transmitting live visual and audible feeds via his nano-devices. And when the time comes he can interface with their systems network. He’ll have incredible data-accessing resources. He knows the stakes. He knows everything relies on him gaining access to the Minian and bringing her home. He’s willing to die trying, if necessary.”

  Jason didn’t like it—too many things that could and probably would go wrong … How is Ricket going to take control of the ship? What if Ricket’s cover is blown—is there a backup plan? All these things would have to be ironed out before they moved forward.

  * * *

  Jason waited at the side of the MediPod where Ricket’s looks were being altered. Dira was in and out of Medical, busy with one thing or another.

  “It’ll be another few minutes. Want to sit? Can I get you something—a coffee?”

  “Coffee would be perfect, thanks.”

  Dira disappeared for several minutes and returned with a steaming mug.

  “Here you go. Black, right?” she asked, looking happier and more radiant than he could remember.

  “I contacted home … my mother.”

  “And?”

  “It seems I’ve stirred things up.”

  “How so?”

  “She’s worried about me. They want me to come home. Still want me to do the princess thing back on Jhardon.”

  “Are you considering that?” Jason asked.

  “I don’t know. I do miss them. I miss my home. We didn’t talk long, the transmission went dead mid-conversation . . . a bit strange.”

  Dira must have seen Jason’s face fall. “Hey, no decision’s been made yet,” she said. “I might take a leave of absence for a while, or something. But only if that’s permissible … Mr. Captain,” she said, moving in closer.

  “Pfft … of course it is!” Jason said nonchalantly. “You’ve given this ship, this crew, more over the last year than can possibly be repaid.”

  “No more than anyone else. But I’ll think about it. Not ready to make a decision right now. I’ll talk to my mother in a day or two. You know that we haven’t been on the best of terms for years; it’s all a little strange.”

  Jason watched her talk. Watched her lips move and how the corners of her mouth turned up in an easy smile.

  “It’s just that she’s asking specifics about my friends, my relationships—” Dira’s face flushed a brighter shade of violet as the words stumbled out of her mouth.

  Jason took a sip of his coffee and placed the cup on a nearby countertop. He decided to let her off the hook. “You’ve mentioned me?”

  Dira nodded. “Uh huh.”

  “She wanted to know if we were an item or not?”

  She pursed her lips and smiled. “Yes, that’s a good way to put it … an item.”

  She let the words hang a moment as she nervously bit her bottom lip. She quickly busied herself with the MediPod’s settings and then checked her virtual notepad. Jason smiled and put a reassuring hand on her arm, bringing her eyes back to his.

  “Just let her know, at least from my humble perspective, we most definitely are an item.”

  She stopped and looked at Jason—neither moved for several beats. “So we’re an item? And you’re sure about that?” she asked him, taking another tentative step closer.

  He breathed in her light fragrance and the world around him disappeared—the MediPod, Medical, The Lilly. Her eyes mirrored the smile on her lips and sparkled as they welled up with emotion. He pulled her into himself, wrapping his arms around her narrow waist. Her mouth met his and they kissed. She pressed into him—and him into her. Her fingers raked through the hair at the back of his head, then tightly grabbed two fistfuls as their passion grew.

  The high, whirling sound of the MediPod’s clamshell opening pulled the two of them free from their passionate embrace. Out of breath and caught off guard, they pushed away from each other. Ricket’s eyes fluttered open and he sat up.

  “How do you feel?” Dira asked, her voice sounding husky as she bent closer to inspect Ricket’s face.

  “I feel fine,” Ricket answered, bringing his hands up to trace the new contours of his cheeks, and the now-hairless top of his head.

  “I wouldn’t recognize you. It’s really pretty amazing,” Jason said leaning in, his hand atop the clamshell lid.

  Dira helped Ricket out of the MediPod, keeping a guiding hand on his back until she was sure he could maintain his balance.

  “Hello, Gaddy,” Ricket said, peering around them.

  Both Dira and Jason spun around. Gaddy was standing at the entrance to Medical.

  Dira nervously asked, “How long have you been—”

  “Standing here? A long time. You’d be surprised how long I’ve been standing here,” she replied, scowling first up at Jason and then at Dira. Gaddy moved in closer, pushed the two of them aside, and sidled over to Ricket.

  She placed the back of her hand on Ricket’s cheek and smiled. “You look so different! I can’t believe you’re the same person.” She stepped back away, looking up at the pair of them again, and scowled.

  Dira and Jason exchanged glances and held back chuckles.

  Ricket looked confused. “What did I miss?”

  “Nothing,” Gaddy replied. “You and I have some work to do. If you’re going to pass as my boyfriend, you’ll need to learn some things about me and my life. You’ll need some acting lessons. Get up, time to go to work.”

  Chapter 6

  Stalls could not believe his good fortune. Not only had he discovered one battered but inhabitable Craing warship, but also a second ship that was nearly operational and had, it seemed, a willing and somewhat competent crew to boot. Apparently, they’d lived off replicator rations, but water and other supplies were becoming scarce. A problem he could easily remedy by using his shuttle to transport between their ship and the disabled vessels nearby. Over the past hour he’d been shown what remained of the ship. It wasn’t much—some crew quarters; several large cargo holds, such as the one he was standing in now; as well as the bridge. But the vessel
was dead in space. Barely inhabitable … a derelict floating island.

  His first order of business would be assembling the crew—see who was usable. Apparently, the only ranking officer still alive was a glum-faced character, named Clig or Drig … something like that.

  “Crig. Assemble the crew. Everyone on board, no exceptions.”

  “I am Drig.”

  “Fine, Drig. Whatever.”

  Drig moved slowly, which annoyed Stalls. There was much needing to be accomplished and there was no time for dilly-dallying. Drig moved off, stopped, and began talking to another uniformed Craing. They were speaking in hushed tones; periodically, they looked over to Stalls.

  “I told you to assemble the crew,” Stalls said with his hands on his hips—his chin jutted forward, conveying his growing irritation.

  Drig turned to face Stalls; the other Craing looked down toward the deck plates. “We do not answer to you. You are not in command of this vessel.”

  Stalls took that in and let the comment sit for a few beats. Then, as if coming to a decision, he pulled his sidearm and shot the man standing directly to Drig’s right. He fell to the floor in a dead heap. Drig’s eyes widened as he saw the barrel of the gun now pointed directly at him.

  “Address me as Captain, or Captain Stalls. Anyone who disobeys my commands will be shot.”

  Stalls watched as Drig moved much more quickly now. Within several minutes the cargo hold was filled with little Craing men. All looked nervous and leery of Stalls, not to mention the sight of the lifeless body still lying on the deck plates. Once all were assembled, Stalls did a quick headcount: twenty-four.

  “My name is Captain Stalls,” he said in his broken Terplin. “I am a pirate by trade and I am commandeering this vessel, as well as others we find adrift that we can make operational. Is there anyone here unwilling to take orders from me? Unable or unwilling to crew for me?”

  The Craing looked at one another, then over to Drig. He simply nodded and wore a passive expression.

  “Good. Very good. Each of you, tell me what your specialties are on board this vessel. Don’t be shy … who first?”

  One by one the Craing crewmembers provided a short accounting of their capabilities. Several were communications technicians, another was a cook, and another was the tactical and weapons junior officer.

  Halfway through the Craing crew’s accounting, Stalls became impatient. “Who here is an engineer?”

  No one spoke for several moments, then two crewmembers raised their hands.

  “Excellent!” Stalls said excitedly. “You’ll be in charge of bringing the environmental systems back to life on the other cruiser. This takes precedence over everything else. Everyone will support this effort. Okay, I need a first mate … a second-in-command.”

  No one spoke up and all eyes turned toward the floor. “No volunteers, huh? You did hear that I was a pirate, right? The first mate’s take of the bounty is significantly more than the rest of the crew. Except for mine, of course.”

  Stalls saw curiosity in their eyes now. He smiled and paced up and down between the crewmembers. “There’s enough bounty in this battlefield to make all of us wealthy. So, who wants to be the richest of the rich?”

  Three hands went up. Drig and two others.

  “Good. The three of you come here. That’s right, come right on over.”

  The three Craing moved over: Drig, and then one who was stout and heavy-set, and the third, who was lithe—more nimble-looking.

  “Everyone circle around. Move it, circle all around us,” Stalls said, gesturing at the rest of the crew. “I know Drig, what are your two names?”

  The stouter one replied, “NaNang.” The nimble-looking one said, “Rup-Lor.”

  Stalls positioned the three Craing close together at the center of the circle; he then joined the outer circle. “Whoever is still standing in two minutes will be my first mate, and he will have special privileges as my trusted second-in-command.”

  The three Craing looked first at each other, and then at Stalls. They hadn’t noticed it at first, but now saw that the barrel of his sidearm was pointed in their direction. Rup-Lor moved first and was fast. He punched Drig in the face and then kicked NaNang in the genitals. Drig bent over, holding his cheek, but NaNang seemed unaffected by the kick. NaNang took a step toward Rup-Lor, then stopped, smiled, turned, and drove a knee into Drig’s downturned face. Drig went down on the floor, holding his smashed nose. Whimpering, he wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.

  Now two contenders remained: NaNang and Rup-Lor circled each other, their small fists clenched, held high and tight, like child-sized boxers in the ring. Again, Rup-Lor moved first. He feigned left, then darted to the right, bringing an uppercut to the larger Craing’s chin. That punch did some damage. NaNang swung with a wide haymaker and missed the faster Craing by less than an inch. Off balance, NaNang stumbled and fought to stay on his feet. That was all the time Rup-Lor needed to come in from behind and, with his two hands clenched together, bring them down on the back of the bigger Craing’s neck. NaNang fell to the deck plates, unconscious.

  Stalls walked to the center of the circle applauding—he looked to the others to join in. “Rup, you’re my new XO. Your first directive is to assemble a team … anyone beneficial to our getting the environmental systems on that other ship repaired. We leave in ten minutes.”

  It took over an hour before the shuttle was fueled and provisioned with fresh oxygen. Stalls piloted the shuttle, with the five selected Craing crewmembers sitting quietly in the rear cabin. As they left one nearly decimated warship behind, Stalls watched as another, nearly perfect, vessel filled the view ahead as they approached it. He started whistling softly to himself.

  Chapter 7

  “So, you ready, Boomer?” Jason asked his daughter.

  She nodded without looking up. She looked nervous—chewing on the inside of her mouth.

  “Boomer it is, then. I like it.”

  Boomer shrugged. “Why are we going to the underground base first?”

  “Just checking in,” Jason replied. “Crewmembers will be staying there sometimes. We’ve built out the base … added new barracks and a few officer living quarters.”

  “I want to see Mom.”

  “Ten minutes and we’ll head up to the scrapyard … see Mom and Mollie.”

  She went back to chewing the inside of her mouth.

  The truth was Jason himself was more than a little apprehensive about seeing Nan. After thinking she was gone, lost forever, the thought of now seeing her again had him feeling more excited than he could remember.

  “Weird, huh?” Jason asked softly.

  Two shrugs. Her hair was tied back in what had become her de-facto hairstyle of late. She’d also started wearing dark-gray spacer jumpsuits. He wondered if this was her way of rebelling or, perhaps, of differentiating herself. All he could do was give her space to figure things out.

  “Dad?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Does Mom love Mollie more than me?”

  “No. Of course not. She can’t wait to see you. That’s the honest truth.”

  “Then why couldn’t I see her right away?”

  Jason paused before answering. “What you’ve been through over the last few weeks is more than any little girl should ever have to experience. It’s been an emotional roller coaster. One shock after another. You not only learned your mother is alive, not dead, but that there is a second Mollie alive, who’s not really your sister, but more like your clone. So before thrusting you into another unsettling, maybe confusing circumstance, we felt you needed a little time to digest it all. Come to terms with everything emotionally. That’s why we had you talk to Dr. Brill earlier today. You liked talking to her, didn’t you?”

  “I guess. She has bad breath and kept asking the same questions over and over again. She asked until I started to cry.”

  “She wants you to have a chance to connect with your true emotions. However that works best for you.”

  Boomer finally looked up. “Will I be allowed to stay with Mom or will I have to stay underground with you and Grandpa?”

  Jason realized he had done a dismal job conveying the situation to her. Maybe waiting had been a colossal mistake. His heart beat heavy in his chest as he saw the uncertainty in her eyes, the silent pleading.