Stepping into the rain and leaving Tony is a refreshing cleanse. Ilise pulled her docupad to shelter her head to prevent her makeup from running. Officer Charyd’s parking was nothing to be desired. She would not dock him points for it. The rain fell so slow that it basically floated, but it still threatened to drench her for each moment longer she stayed out here. Sisyphus was casually walking beside her, not even jogging, his own hands stretched over his hair.
The gates opened as everyone piled in one by one into the waiting room. The slippery vinyl floor was stained with dark brown, red, and blue splotches. A hallway was further down, but based on the buzzing sound in the air, walking through it required clearance. The concrete walls here were naked beside one sign with red letters ordering “Silence until called upon.”
It seemed everyone in the crew could read and obey signs. She made a mental note of it about hanging one up in the latrine about putting the toilet seat down. Saar would probably start doing it after his recent turbulence adventure. He deserved whatever covered him. He had been a headache to command. He only obeyed orders passed to him via Tony.
“Captain Ilise Posey of the Darkstorm.” A voice called over the speaker followed by a buzzer.
She went up near the force field by the hallway. It was so many joules of energy and constantly ready to shock even the largest alien races in the universe. For someone like her and her species in general, it could probably kill her. It flickered off to allow her to pass, but the short red hairs on her head were still raised from the charge. A quick swipe of the hand over her head with a wet hand and the hair laid flat again. It was as presentable as she could be between commanding the Darkstorm, the rollercoaster ride through space, and the rain. The forcefield did not help in keeping her appearance up, but she knew her rank alone would give her respect, even if she didn’t look it. Her hair and makeup had nothing to do with why her appearance would make others question her rank.
A quick glance back revealed that Sisyphus was standing too close to the forcefield. The human was drenched from the rain, but it might as well be seen as sweat. Sweating on a man was a sign of strength and perseverance. On a woman, it meant she had not been conditioned enough to handle the situation. She snapped her fingers until Sisyphus was looking at her and then motioned to his body. Hopefully, her silent command to get cleaned up would come across, but she was distracted by Officer Charyd before she could see it through.
The smile that was on Charyd’s dark face made his large eyes squint and it was so wide and bright and it looked so fake that it made her question the man’s intelligence. Maybe he was one of the specials even if it wasn’t in his record. Those really smart ones that had no social skills. When he noticed her looking, his smile softened and turned more natural. It made his large eyes open wider as if he was focusing completely on her, and the wrinkles on the flat bridge of his nose disappeared. It was… cute.
Her head swiveled forward to avoid the blush glowing on her face. Another layer of foundation was needed to hide her Shacor emotions more. His praise earlier was unexpected. Especially coming from a pilot who placed first in the Cadoon FRX fighter races. She picked him specifically for the Darkstorm crew because of how well he could maneuver an asteroid field being pulled into a black hole in a high-speed ship. Not that Tony couldn’t do it, but having a backup was nice. But Officer Charyd needed to know that he was a second option, a plan B, maybe even a C since Ilise herself also passed the flight exams. Even though he must have a firm grip and nimble fingers. To adjust to that environment. Of course. Nothing else. And of course, he would. He could shift into anything.
A guard with a bright yellow badge, denoting them as the one in charge interrupted her thoughts. “Captain Posey! You arrived earlier than expected. We weren’t certain it was you.”
“You received a call before we left and the same landing clearance code from me on the waves less than twenty minutes ago. What more were you expecting?”
“Punctuality.” He had stopped at a nearby open door. “Luckily we aren’t too busy and were already preparing for the meeting an hour from now. But first, we need to prove you are who you said you are.”
She pulled her sleeve down to reveal the spot on her wrist where her biochip was inserted. She covered the scars created by the biochip by connecting her beauty marks into a nebula tattoo, the first place of her active combat duty. “Scan this so we can all move on. If you don’t, I will personally have the Commodore call you for this pointless security.”
The gorgon’s snakes hissed, but he raised his scanner. They looked warm and dry, unlike Ilise’s gorgon officer whose snakes were curled up in a silent nest and barely moving. On his docupad, a screen popped up with her face. It listed her as the Captain of the Darkstorm, a military vessel of a rank so low that it barely needed mentioning. One that felt like an insult to her rank and history, even the parts not redacted. She knew the Darkstorm was the best ship in the Cadoon military and she was the captain of it, but she could not brag. The best position of her entire career and she could not even tell her own family. The other side of the coin came with the disadvantage of if she failed this mission and lost her rank, everyone would hear about it. Not the Darkstorm’s failure, no. It would be Captain Posey losing her rank and maybe even being disgracefully discharged from the Cadoon military. Even without a discharge, she would never rise above a junior officer rank again. Wasting time and failing were the same thing. “I’ll tell you this, most of my crew is going to show up very similarly. Scan their biochips and let them in.”
“Why does everyone on your ship need to be allowed in?”
Her finger landed on a particular paragraph that was completely covered in black except for the word ‘medal’. “You don’t have the clearance to know that.”
The man grumbled. “This is not a typical procedure. You know without rules we have chaos. And chaos always ends back here.”
“It's not typical that the military is trying to reminisce with someone on death row. Is the prisoner going by the code name ‘Alice’ ready? Eviction number is 0879462.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The guard looked over the pad, and tapped at the information of Ilise, but stopped. “No. Again, we were not expecting you for another hour. Does the Captain need anything else?”
The man was trying to objectify her, but she sneered back, revealing her fangs completely in a show of command. “I don't need you delaying these interviews further,” she hissed out between her fangs. “Have the prisoner prepared and brought to a proper interrogation room. Scan Commander Sisyphus next, he will be joining me. Make sure the other members of the prisoner’s crew are prepared as well. I want my medic scanning them for any loose chips hiding in their bodies. I don’t care if it's already been done.”
The guard looked calm but the snakes on his head were hissing and curling up, trying to hide from a predator.
She pointed further down the hall. “Lead me to the interrogation room for the prisoners now.”
There was no more arguing. He pushed a button on his comm. “Only scan their biochips. If it shows a bunch of black lines. Let them in.”
The planet was surrounded by the deadliest wave and the only ships that were allowed in were the prison transport and delivery ones or military vessels approved via months of negotiations and pre-screenings. The fact that the Darkstorm was able to land during an active wave event without the help of the prison staff was sign enough that the ship should be here. Ilise’s redacted bio was a plus. When Sisyphus was scanned and revealed a much longer bio with just as many black lines, it was another point in her column. The guard saluted Sisyphus. Two points in her column. Men.
Ilise started walking without waiting for Sisyphus, forcing the man to take longer steps to catch up to her until he was walking beside her once more. They walked in silence past a simple metal gate and near the prison exercise area. The crowded area was below them giving her a clear view of the evildoers of society. It smelled of mildew and the humidity was crawling on her skin. A ping pong table was set up with the safety air net with doubles being played. Shouting echoed in the room.
A woman with slightly translucent blue skin was being dragged away. Her orange prison uniform was rolled down to her waist and the undershirt showed her collarbones and bare arms, revealing glowing white bones and bright red organs. With every swear she called out, her translucent skin became clearer and clearer until Ilise could see her intestines. The guards dragged her by her shoulders. She was shouting and pointing at the table. A prisoner ran over and snipped the piece of paper she was holding. The prisoners cheered as she left. Ilise recognized the gambling Alice anywhere. The unfair advantage being a gambler and a telepath. By the time Alice was out of view, her translucent appearance had taken on a darker hue and both the red organs and white bones faded under pale blue skin.
The chief officer stopped in front of a small room. The boring Arial text on a screen declared it “Interview Room One”. There were only two metal chairs around essentially an end table in size. The yellow lighting did nothing for anyone’s complexion. “You have twenty minutes. With each prisoner. Good luck.” The guard left her with the door open.
Sisyphus, who got distracted by the prisoners, caught up to her without an escort. The room shrunk in size with his overbearing frame. He tried to stuff himself in the corner doing an invisible chair wall sit. Never stopping to rest his muscles. At least most of the rain on his skin had dried and he didn’t look like he had gone a hundred rounds with the barbells. The two guards shoved Alice into the room and chained her hands to the table. As they left, they closed the door behind them. A fresh bruise was forming on her eye, the pastel blue of her skin taking on a sickly purple hue even as it was solid enough to hide what was beneath it. The bright copper bars in her ear were engraved with her prisoner number and declared her of the telepathic alien race Nereus.
Ilise went for the good cop approach. “Alice, may I call you Alice? I’m Captain Posey and this is my second in command, Sisyphus.” He did not say a word but did his best to scowl. His eyebrows dropped the weight of his forehead to cast shadows on his dark eyes. “We are here to ask you for some information.”
Alice tried to grimace back but winced at the pain. “Fuck you and the whole Cadoon government.”
Ilise ignored the jab. She needed this information if she was to capture the pirates who stole the stealth technology. She pulled up the Exec Pirates’ information that had been collected in the last week. Their name was half spelled in purple and orange dripped down the side. It looked like a half put together FRX Fighter with a Oi-Torn delivery storage attached on the back where the engines should be. “You might get that wish. With the weapon they have, the Exec may attack Cadoon at any moment. Maybe even Aegean. Tell us where these pirates are before it gets to that.” As far as Ilise knew, the Exec had no reason at all to attack the system of Aegean, Alice’s home based on her species, but it was a good threat anyway.
Alice dropped her head on the table, breaking all eye contact. Two minutes passed and nothing changed. Sisyphus stood up and grabbed her collar. “We want to offer a trade.”
“Giving me five extra minutes? That was my last free play. I bid everything just there.”
Ilise raised the docupad up to be in Alice’s sight view. She pointed at the ship again. “More than that. The government is willing to give you a pardon in exchange for the information of where their base might be. Wasn’t it you talking in this video?” The short video of the trashed mess hall on the Darkstorm played for Alice.
The Nereus’ navy blue eyes lit up as they watered, revealing an even darker iris. She was looking at her old crew. The veins around her neckline appeared. “Can I save them instead?”
Why would anyone want to save the crew mates who got her in this shit hole in the first place? Ilise constantly had to grab at any loose threads to climb up the ladder by herself. No crew. No friends. It was harder but it also meant fewer chances of being backstabbed just as she reached the next rung. She even tried signing up for multiple scientific studies to prove her bravery, one of which left her both mentally and physically scarred.
“Only one. We might be able to talk about two.” Ilise said. Shaking her head at Sisyphus to let go of her collar. She knew when a fish was starting to nibble. Now would begin the tease bait before the fish lost interest.
Alice said nothing. The tears gently dripped down her cheeks as she studied the frozen video frame again. Two fingers stuck out from her chained hand. “It has to be two.”
Ilise pulled up the list of the pirates. Multiple murders, destruction of civilian and military property, stealing, general mayhem, illegal weapons trading… The list did not get better for the collection of crimes. Most were listed under the Pirate Captain Charyd. Vicious commander who would have ruined the Darkstorm if he had it a moment longer. A strategist, but only one man could not outsmart the government. Another typical man who tried to cheat and grant himself the rank of Captain. “Two and yourself included if you lead me to your leader Charyd as well.”
Alice’s eyes were locked on the docupad searching for someone. Alice had bit the hook, and now all that was left was reeling her in. It was a no-brainer, to turn in the location of the man who abandoned you the moment there was trouble. He tricked her into doing the crime of stealing the Darkstorm in the first place.
The door to the interrogation room opened as Charyd came in with Boil. “Here’s the weapons as promised!” The flight officer said with a big grin as he swung his weight on the door handle. His face fell for a moment and he peeked back out into the hallway. “I swear the sign glowed the word ‘Armory’ a moment ago.”