Shadow Force 1: the Garden Planet (3 page)

“So we get to play brother and sister?”

“Yeah, loving brother and sister; so please put the obvious hostilities between you away and bury them until after the mission.”

“Max, let me tell you that will not be the only thing I’ll be burying after this mission.” Sara replied, staring me straight in the face, with pure venom!

The transformation from apology to hatred had been so swift it threw me for a loop. For the life of me I had no idea what she had against me, but whatever it was it was starting to scare me. I apparently had no friends in this endeavor.

“Shadow set course for New Libya, standard pursuit mode, and Max how about filling us in on your plan?”

“Ok, Jonny boy, I guess you guys deserve the truth, and the truth is, we are just going to wing it. Once we meet with Rashid we should be able to get a better handle on the situation. He is the manager of the newest and most luxurious resort on New Libya. It is so exclusive the admission charge is one million credits per person, and as you can imagine that comes with a lot of perks. Perks I’m sure we will enjoy, you see we have no budget for this mission and I intend to make the most of it.” Max said only half- jokingly.

“Shadow, clear us for jump.”

“Aye, aye captain.”

“Let’s go.” and with those final words began the craziest, but most important mission of any of our lives.

Max suggested we go to our cabins and have the clothing synthesizer produce some very classy eveningwear. That taken care of, I went to my cabin to shower and change, where a little while later I heard a knock. As the door slid open I saw Sara, at least I thought it was Sara... But the woman standing in front of me hardly resembled the woman I had so recently met. Her long blond hair was pulled high into a bun, the dress she was wearing was a long and deep burgundy colored gown. It was slit up the side almost indecently. Her ruby red lipstick accented her perfect teeth and her matching shoes with incredibly high heels made the perfect accent to the dress. I was star struck. This woman was perfect in every way, except I couldn’t stand her, nor she me. Yet since the death of my wife Rebecca no woman had caught my eye, not to mention my emotions. Not like Sara. I both hated her and loved her at the same time. Right now with her standing so innocently at my cabin door with an expression of needless approval I simply said, “Dear God, you look like an angel.”

Her smile of contentment really started to soften my heart towards her.

“Jon, do you remember saying your door was always open?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I’d like to tell you my story now before we get to be friends, as that seems to be the direction we are heading.”

Again she appeared to have done a complete turnaround. All I could say was, “Ok, I am all ears.”

“Well here goes. I was about eight, my brother ten or twelve, when the low budget transport we were on with our parents was hijacked by pirates. All the adults were lined up and shot right in front of us. I remember my mother lying on the floor trying to reach out to me. One of the pirates calmly walked over to her and shot her in the head. Our eyes were still locked as the life force gave out in her.

I just sat in shock as the pirates separated the boys from the girls. They dragged me onto a different ship. At the time I didn’t know what it was, but now I know it was just an empty ore freighter. We were stripped and locked into one of the holds. To say we were terrified would be an injustice to how we were really feeling. Still, the worst by far was still to come. We spent about ten days locked in the hold, naked and with no sanitary facilities. The oldest was Anna and she did her best to keep the rest of us girls calm. For me, I just spent most of the time sitting in the corner on the cold hard plasium, remembering the look in my mother's eyes as she died. I guess I was in shock; what I do know was that I stopped being Sara and became more of a zombie. That turned out to be a good thing. Arriving at our destination, we were hauled out to the main deck and hosed down before being led off the ship. We ended up in a windowless room where one by one we were hauled out, still naked and scared to death. When my turn came I was led out of the room and into an auditorium where there was a large audience of men. I was led to the middle of the stage and the auction began. I was apparently a top commodity as the bidding began. I was finally sold for 200,000 credits and immediately transferred into the custody of an Arab man whose servants draped a robe over me. I was escorted to a locked cabin on the man’s ship. There was every amenity in my room that is on Shadow, which is one of the reasons I have been so hostile towards you. The flashbacks are happening almost continuously as this ship is so comparable to the one I was first enslaved on. The only thing I think I need to apologize for was my judgment of you. I thought that you were just another piece of shit bounty hunter. I didn’t know you were also a victim. I now know a part of your story and it explains a lot. I spent at least two days on the ship before two women came into the cabin. They bathed me and then dressed me in an outfit that was obscene, then taken to the master’s cabin where I was warned to obey his every command. The only penalty for disobedience was death.

Well, I obeyed every command. I did things that night I had never even heard of. Needless to say, I was no longer a virgin in any way.

He kept me and used me until I was about fourteen. I guess his taste in women was just little girls and I had grown up physically, but mentally I was a mess. I no longer remembered the happy years of my youth; I only remembered my time with him. So when I was summarily sold into a mining camp as the girl of the hour, and used just about every one of those hours, I longed for my years as Omar’s play toy.

I spent probably two years in the mining camp. I was used by so many different men, and even a couple of woman that I no longer paid attention to who was on top of me. It no longer mattered. I had become used to being a sex slave. Eventually I was replaced with a younger version of myself and sold again; this time to an entirely different class of slave owner. For the next two years I was trained as a recreation specialist. I was taught all the nuances of how to give true pleasure to both men and women. Then I was assigned to a brothel where my services were sold. I never knew who my owners were or whether they ever used me. I just obeyed orders and did as I was told. I had no emotions left by this time. I guess I had just accepted my fate and never thought it would change. I was there for years, how many, I don’t know.

Then one day one of the clients turned out to be an undercover agent of S.F.I. He somehow negotiated my purchase in complete violation of official policy. He brought me to a recovery center, and eventually I was recruited into S.F.I. But my hatred of men in general was not dampened; that is until now. Somehow I find myself softening up, especially towards you. That’s why I’m telling you this. There can’t be any lies, or acting with us if we’re to be true partners. You had to know about my past. I’m sure that you are completely disgusted by now, and probably don’t want anything more to do with me.”

This was so far from the truth that my feelings were a jumble. Now
I
was having the flashbacks, about the day my family was killed.

Without even realizing, I took Sara into my embrace as the carefully applied makeup she had a put on earlier started running, along with the tears that were pouring from her eyes. The sight of her sudden vulnerability completely overcame the wall I had been building against her. She held me as tightly as I was holding her. However I was quickly becoming angry and frustrated at the injustice that plagued our galaxy. I then and there silently added the hunting and killing of the people responsible for what had happened to the innocent little girl that was silently being held in my arms.

Eventually she broke off the embrace and red faced with embarrassment she took a few steps back. She finally, barely whispering, said “Thank you for listening.” For my part I didn’t know what to say, and yet I knew something needed to be said. What finally came out was, “I’m so sorry for what happened to you, and I know nothing I can say can help to relieve the pain. What I can promise is that once this mission is over I will work with you, and with all the power of Shadow to destroy these bastards wherever and whenever we can. Apparently this is what we have both been trying to do, but I imagine teamed up as real partners we could really do some damage.”

“You will actually take me on as a real partner, even after the way I’ve been treating you?”

“Without a doubt!”

“Thank you. Just know that I’ve never told anyone my story before. I just bottled it up and moved into my new life at S.F.I. So I beg you to keep my secret. Although I must say it is a relief to finally have told someone. Why you, I don’t really know. Maybe it’s the ship or the cabin but the reality is I think it was just you. I don’t even know you. Yet I believe you would lose your life to save me, just as I now promise to protect you with mine.”

“I guess this makes us friends now, doesn’t it?” was my response.

“Yes, Mr. Ryder, I do believe it does.”

For my part I was just confused, the ice princess had melted right in my arms. Her story had shaken me to the bone.

“Would you care to hear my story, not the official one but the real one?” I asked Sara as we sat on the soft leather sofa in my cabin.

“Yes, I very much would.” Sara replied.

“Ok, well here goes, just remember that only you and Commander Rosen know this; although I expect Max does too.”

“My family was murdered right in front of me too, but no one other than myself had been kept alive. No, I was ransom. Being an S.F. captain they thought I was worth money. Of course they were wrong; S.F. did not negotiate with terrorists. As they led me towards their ship I realized there would not be many inside. It was too small and the band outside only numbered eight men. Within thirty seconds they numbered eight dead men as I quickly overcame the leader. Then using him as a human shield I used the man’s own disruptor array and slaughtered the other pirates. But I was far from out of the woods, this was just a small transport. I quickly entered the ship and found it unoccupied. I tied the navigation computer to the one on my S.F. transport. Once tied in, I downloaded the info I needed. The navigation computer on the pirate’s transport was now tied to my S.F. transport. Then leaving the pirates to rot, I remotely lifted the pirate transport and sent it straight back on a collision course with the mother ship, praying the blast would destroy both. I waited until I saw the flash then at top speed I headed in their direction. When I got within visual range I saw the gaping hole where the docking mechanism used to be, within seconds I was fired upon and realized I hadn’t taken out the ship or the real culprits as I had hoped. I immediately engaged the maximum escape power that this little ship had, but the big pirate vessel also began to move quickly starting to close the gap. When a secondary explosion on the pirate ship suddenly erupted in one of the subspace drives and my lead quickly increased I reached the jump point well ahead of the cruiser and without even setting coordinates, I jumped in emergency mode. When I dropped back into regular space I was in the Altra Six system for a brief second. I rejoiced at my good luck... then I remembered my cargo... it was the last thing I would remember for a long time.

The little transport was brought into the massive Macdill complex by tractor beam and was met by Ed Rosen himself. There had been no transmission from the tiny ship since she had emerged from hyperspace, but Ed knew who was on board. As the doors opened the scene that greeted him was one of pure horror. His friend Jon was sitting with his back against a bulkhead, the mutilated bodies of his family cradled in his arms. I was staring at the opposite wall a completely blank.

One look told Ed that my wife and baby girls, the literal lights of my life, were dead. They had been hit numerous times but he yelled for medics anyway. Their arrival just confirmed Ed’s position. Yet, as they tried to remove the bodies they couldn’t pry them from my arms, I wasn’t fighting I just had my arms locked around them so hard. Finally Ed ordered the medics to give me a shot to knock me out. In the end I was told, it took four shots before my arms finally relaxed.

My wife and two daughters were taken to the morgue and me to sick bay where the doctors decided there was nothing physically wrong with me. It was all psychological.

“How long?” Ed asked.

“There’s no way to know.” Dr. Racicot replied. “It could be a week, a month, a year, or maybe never. An event like this can destroy the human brain.”

“Not his brain, not ever.” was Ed’s reply.

“I just don’t have the same confidence, but I do hope you’re right.” The doctor answered.

“I am.” Ed replied as he left sick bay and headed for the bridge of the flagship. Her name was Constitution and was the newest of the Federation's Battleships, the first of eight planned. They would eventually replace the quasar class ships. They were both incredibly fast as well as extremely maneuverable. At 2700 meters she was the largest ship in space but also one of the most heavily armed, and for sure the most sophisticated ship ever built. She was at Macdill for a brief shore leave.

He headed straight for Admiral Worthington’s cabin where after a brief knock he was admitted. Without any preamble he got straight to the point. After finishing the story of how he had found me, he laid out his plan to avenge the dead... when the Admiral cut him off.

“I know where this is going Ed, and SFI cannot get involved.”

“I don’t understand, our best mission commander and his family were attacked in cold blood, and we can’t get involved!”

“The claim is, they were in New Dubai airspace having just left the resorts there. We have no extradition policy with new Dubai. So let it go and help tend to Captain Ryder. “

“Since when have we worried about extradition when it comes to pirates?”

“Since, we just received a formal complaint from New Dubai. In it they state that a ship of their line was sabotaged by a vessel with the same markings as your dear captain’s ship. So the orders from our “brave” President are to do nothing, and nothing is what we will do.”