Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1) (3 page)

Cali needed to hurry. Once the docking clamps had the shuttle steady she
waited for the doors to open and rushed out. Vareen followed right behind her
in their mad rush to the bridge.

“You block all communications. I’ll get control of the crew.” Cali
ordered as they entered the lift. Since it would wait for the desired level she
called out, “Command deck.”

“I will send a request for Diandra to report to the transporter room,”
Vareen whispered. “Once I block communications, and she ends up on
The
Apoxis
,
everything will happen quickly.”

“Okay,” Cali stepped out when the doors opened and they hurried along the
hallway to the bridge. “As soon as Diandra is off
The Reliant
, I will notify you.”

They’d reached the
bridge
. There
was no going back now.

“You’re not allowed on this level, ensign.” An officer, by the uniform
she wore, warned Cali when she tried to walk onto the bridge.

Cali knew it was now or never. She saw Vareen hasten to the Science
Station. When her fingers started furiously pushing buttons Cali knew one of
those commands would be for Diandra to get to the transport room. She needed to
hurry as well.

“I am Calinae Edal.” She pulled off her cap and her hair spilled down her
back. There were gasps of excitement at hearing her name and a few of fear. “As
some of you may be aware, a change in captain was announced. That was
misdirection by the Council. I am still your captain. Prepare to depart on our
assigned mission.”

Everyone was listening intently, so she continued, “Our orders from the
Council are to be on absolute radio silence, no communication whatsoever with
Cestori. My science officer is even now making the necessary adjustments to the
comm panel. I know most, if not all of you, from the Academy and feel this is
the best crew Cestori has to offer. With a ship like
The
Reliant,
I’m sure our
mission will prove enlightening. The science officer has the bridge. Resume
your duties.”

Before anyone could stop her Cali returned to the lift. “Level four.” That
is where Diandra should be meeting her. The slight pull of gravity was the only
indication she was moving. When the doors opened again, she took the hallway to
a nearby door and burst in.

“Diandra.”

Diandra’s face went pale and then flushed red. “Cali?! Why did Vareen
call me to the transporter and what are you doing here? In an ensign’s uniform
to boot?”

“There isn’t time to explain fully,” Cali dragged her friend to the
transport platform. “I am sending you to
The
Apoxis
.”

“What? Why?” Diandra stood where Cali had placed her, the confusion in
her voice had Cali hastening to explain.

“You need to find Vathral right away and he can tell you everything.”
Cali input
The Apoxis
teleport
information and went to push the button.

“I don’t understand?” Diandra appeared about to faint.

Having mercy on her friend she said, “I’m taking
The Reliant
to the Buffer Zone. To get away from my mother so you
and Vathral can find a way to be together. He’ll find you on
The Apoxis
.”

“Taking
The
Reliant
? Cali wait…”

Cali just smiled reassuringly and activated the transport. With that
taken care
of,
she turned to leave. Tapping
the communication, or com, badge built into every uniform she ordered, “Bridge.
Lay in a course for the Buffer Zone. Engage the caterpillar drive, at maximum
speed.”

She heard Vareen answer, “Engaging captain” over her comm badge.

Behind
her,
she heard, “I thought
you said I was going to
The Apoxis
?”

Cali turned to gape at her friend, “What happened? I just sent you over.”
Cali hurried to tap her comm badge, “Bridge, are we at maximum speed?” Cali
called frantically. They couldn’t transport at maximum speed, and if they had
warped away, Diandra would have to stay with them on
The Reliant
. They couldn’t possibly return to Cestori now. The
planetary defenses would be on guard and
The
Reliant
would be disabled from escaping. Their brilliant plan was
deteriorating into ashes.

“
Yes,
captain. We engaged CD-ten
the moment you requested maximum speed.”

CD stood for their caterpillar drive unit. It pulled energy from around
them in space and used it to catapult the ship forward. The dilation of the
drive openings, running along both sides of the ship, ranged from one to ten.
One being the slowest, and ten the fastest. In the case of
The Reliant
, CD-ten was very fast

Tapping her comm badge, she said, “Science officer to my
quarters,
” When the comm was clear she yelled.
“Dammit!”

Diandra, not the only reason for leaving Cestori but a major one, was on
The Reliant
with her.

There was nothing Cali could do except stay the course and take
The Reliant
on the planned mission. With
twelve months of supplies, they had been monitoring and exploring the area
between the three nearest planets. Cestori,
Titus,
and
Atheon
. In this expanse of
space,
no single planet could claim authority,
which worked in Cali’s favor. She was out of reach of her mother and the
council, and the only pitfalls were the pirates, which they had no trouble
outrunning, and the worry they would come
across
a ship from
Atheon
.

Atheon
was the closest inhabited
planet to
Cestori
. They didn’t have any
contact with the humanoids from that planet. Cali had always wondered why,
until her
History of Advanced Culture
300
class. There she learned about
the animosity between the two worlds. Though the acrimony had been dormant for
a long time. It was written in history books that the humanoids of
Atheon
were easily offended and would declare
war over the smallest slight. It was a
shame
really, if not for their hostile natures,
she might have sought refuge
on Atheon. The last reports on them showed they equaled Cestori in
technological, cultural, scientific and medical advancement. By all accounts, they
had all the comforts of home. The only downside being that
Atheonians
were crazy.

Cali shrugged off her melancholy and took another look at the display. It
was time for another probe to be launched. Drumming her fingers on the arms of
her lounge chair she looked up to face the large holographic
viewport
. Since they were stationary at the
moment, the sight before her was calm space. When in motion the computer would
show a representation of the stars flashing past the ship. If she turned the
holograph off, the wall would appear as it actually was, the stark silver of
the metal used to build the ship. For the sanity of the bridge crew, the
holograph always showed their current view of the space around them.

“Launch the communication probe,” Cali ordered.

Vareen pushed the button to send the probe to the designated location. “Launch
in progress,” Vareen’s voice announced. “Probe will reach the designated
distance from
The Reliant
in twenty
seconds.”

“Take us out of here, CD-4,” Cali ordered.

“I’ll be away from my station. Science Officer Nas, you have the bridge,”
not that she expected Vareen to stay at her station. It was
protocol
for her to give the command to her
second, if Vareen followed her, which she always did, then she would pass the
command
to the navigation officer.

She walked away from the captain’s chair, through the main doors and
straight across the hall to her quarters. Around the corner from her room were
the other officers, among
them,
were Vareen,
Nellia,
and Diandra. The four of them had
schooled together at the Academy. Diandra was the daughter of a council member,
Nellia was the daughter of prominent scientists, and Vareen…well, she was a
ward of the state having been orphaned at a young age. Vareen had a “tainted”
pedigree, according to some of the close-minded of Cestori, but in Cali’s
humble opinion, she was the best of their group of friends.

Upon entering her room, Cali went straight to the canister set on a small
table in the corner. After pouring herself a large drink of the ice blue liquid,
she walked over to sit on one of the three small couches set in a U shape. The
only other furniture consisted of four end tables. Those placed
among
the sofas were for holding books and
various knick-knacks, but her tables remained
empty
because the few items she’d managed to salvage during her escape were in her
bedroom.

Settling down
on
the sofa, Cali let
out a long low sigh. She only indulged in this drink once every thirty days,
and she had just taken a sip when the door chimed.

“Come in,” she leaned her head against the back of the sofa and closed
her eyes. She didn’t need to see who it was, she knew.

“Cali.” Vareen entered and walked straight for the same canister behind
her. Her friends’ long legs ate up the short distance. Cali had always envied
Vareen. It was a joke among them that she had the longest legs on Cestori.

“The probe is cloaked and we are doing maneuvers away from it. I wanted
to talk to you about how close we’re sandwiched between the edge of the Buffer
Zone and Titus.”

Cali heard the clink of the glass as Vareen poured herself a drink. Then
the shifting of the cushions told her she had settled into a spot on the couch.

“I—” her friend was interrupted by the chime of the door.

“Come
in,
” Cali called and opened
her
eyes, this time,
to see Nellia enter
the room. Now they just needed Diandra to show up and their group would be
complete.

Just as she had the thought her door chimed another time. Nellia hadn’t
even gotten her drink in her hand before Cali was calling out, “Come in” yet
again.

“I heard the probe was launched.” Diandra walked to the canister and Cali
waited patiently for everyone to settle into their seats. Vareen with her
flashing purple eyes and beautiful, black curly hair and alabaster skin. Nellia
with her brunette hair, intelligent hazel eyes and naturally tan complexion.
Diandra with her strawberry blonde hair, soft brown
complexion,
and bright green colored eyes.

Cali wondered who would bring up their monthly discussion first. It was
Diandra, as the ships counselor she excelled at getting the feelings of the
crew, and her friends.

“Cali, you know we’ll stay with you as long as you feel necessary. Are
your feelings still the same as when we left Cestori?”

Cali had done nothing but think about her predicament since the day they
had fled. Moving her troubled eyes from face to face she sighed, “I still don’t
want to be sold off like some chattel to Vathral. My mother may want the
alliance with his family, but I want something more for myself. I’m not ready
to give up just yet.”

“At the very least we’re getting good data from the Buffer Zone.” Vareen
offered helpfully.

“We should never have read those forbidden novels on romance and love at
the academy.” Nellia tapped her fingers on her glass absently, “We would’ve
gotten higher scores for one thing and another is we wouldn’t have un-natural
views love…” realizing how that must sound she added, “Not that I think we’re
un-natural.” Her face blushed a becoming pink color in her embarrassment.

“We know what you meant,” Diandra laughed and the sound had all the
friends smiling.

“The last communication from
Conndra
said your mother is getting desperate. Maybe she will be willing to talk since
so much time has passed.” Diandra turned the topic back around.

“I don’t know.” Cali rubbed her head, loosening the tightness of the bun.
She hated having her hair up, it gave her a splitting headache. If not for
trying to keep a semblance of
protocol
on
The Reliant
, she would let everyone
wear their hair down.

“We know Vathral is still trailing us, it’s only a matter of time before
we’re caught. Sending those probes gives us away, not to mention the trail we’re
leaving with the caterpillar drive.” Vareen added, “Even with the changes I’ve had
made, we’re still expelling used energy, and that can be tracked.”

“We have to send the communication probe so we get information about
home
.” Cali ran a hand through her hair. “How
else would we have learned that my mother posted my betrothal announcement. As
soon as I return to Cestori, Vathral and I will have to go through with the
commitment ceremony.”

Cali was adamant they would stay in contact with Conndra, another friend
from the Academy. Out of all of their group, Conndra was the only one who had
taken a life-partner. She and
Markus
had
performed the commitment ceremony before placement, and upon graduation, had submitted
their DNA for offspring consideration. This meant they weren’t allowed
placement on spacecraft and would be bound to Cestori. It was a sacrifice the
couple had been willing to make.

The last Cali heard, their DNA hadn’t been selected. Genetic
compatibility was strictly enforced by the Science
Sectorate
. Every couple submitted their DNA when a life-partnership
agreement was entered into. If selected, you were allotted one offspring. No
exceptions were allowed, and gender selection of that offspring was strictly
prohibited. Cali knew that generations ago, gender selection was permitted but
the male population became so sparse because of this practice, it was quickly
banned.

Cali sighed, Conndra would make a wonderful mother. It was too bad
genetic compatibility was more important than feelings or true desire for a
child.

“We need to come up with a plan.” Vareen broke in again. “As I was
telling Cali, we are getting dangerously close to the edge of the Buffer Zone.”

Cali took another sip of her drink. “Since Titus isn’t spacefaring it
should be the perfect hiding grounds.”

“I still think it wise to alter course.” Vareen advised, “Perhaps pirates
and ships from Atheon have the same theory.”

“We could alter course to head toward Cestori.” Diandra suggested, “That
way we will be in
familiar
territory
should we cross a ship from Atheon.”

“Conndra would warn us if she’d heard they were in the Buffer Zone.” Cali
shrugged, “But I agree. Let’s skirt the Buffer Zone for a few more days along
Titus’ border, then veer toward Cestori. We can adjust for that heading once we
are through our maneuvers to lose Vathral,” Cali ordered her friend.

“Captain, we’re picking up a distress beacon.” The young navigation officer’s
voice came over the loudspeaker.

Cali hit her
comm
badge, “Do you
have a lock on the signal?” she asked when a connection was open.

“
Yes,
captain. We have the location
as 145.27
mark
8. The
transmission
is
on
all known frequencies.”

Cali met her
friend's
troubled
eyes. “Computer privacy.” She called and knew the computer would mute their
conversation to the command deck. “That location is in the Buffer Zone straight
ahead. Do you think it’s a trap?” she asked her friends once she knew the
wouldn’t be overheard.

Nobody wanted to say what they were all thinking.

“Vathral could be getting creative and is trying to draw us in with a
fake distress call.” Cali had to say it, though she knew in her heart Vathral
was her friend. He would only get serious about catching them if under intense
pressure. Which she realized could very well be the case. Conndra had informed
them Vathral was still captain of
The
Apoxis
, which is the
warship
her
mother had sent looking for them. Although slower than
The Reliant
, it carried much heavier armament. It would never keep
up with them under normal circumstances. If Vathral was trying to catch them in
earnest, then this could be a trap.

Sighing wearily Cali said, “I don’t know how Vathral could’ve gotten
ahead of us, but we need to set course for the location of the distress signal.
If it’s not Vathral we might do some good for whoever is transmitting the
signal. If it’s a trap—” she let her voice trail off.

“I agree with setting
course
for
the signal.” Vareen’s brow furrowed. “It’s not logical that
The
Apoxis
could get ahead of us. I don’t think it’s Vathral.”

“Open command
channel,
” Cali
ordered the computer.
“Navigation
set
course for the distress signal CD-six, and inform me if any other ships appear
on our radar,” she called to the bridge.

 
“Course set.” The navigation
officer spoke over the intercom, “We’ll arrive in sixty-five minutes.”

“Understood and clear,” Cali called and tapped hercommbadge. They were
once again speaking privately. “Well, it seems we have sixty-five minutes until
we know if Vathral has caught us.”

“It would be the only way.” Nellia was biting her lip. “
The Reliant
is too fast for them to
catch us any other way.”

“Vathral wouldn’t act in that
way,
”
Diandra spoke up. When all eyes swung to her she blushed becomingly. “I mean to
say…”

Not for the first time Cali wished her mother had left well enough alone.
Her betrothal to Vathral had to be causing Diandra so much pain.

“Diandra…”

Avoiding her eyes and hurriedly standing her friend said, “We should be
going.”

Everyone followed suit and stood to leave. Cali pursed her lips and made
a mental note to talk with Diandra.

“Everyone to their stations then.” Cali stood and walked to the door.
“This might get interesting.”