It took a few minutes for the landing area to be pressurized. Once it was, a door opened and a woman followed by four soldiers holding rifle blasters entered the area. She lifted a small box to her mouth and began speaking. Her voice came out of the radio.

“Captain Power, you and your partner are ordered to leave your ship unarmed with your hands raised.”

“Understood,” radioed back Will.

“Here we go,” said Will, unbuckling his seat straps. “The Ormecrans treat their prisoners well, so we shouldn’t be in any danger.”

“At least until we get back to Earth,” replied Debra.

Will nodded. “Hopefully they’ll listen to what we have to say and it won’t come to that.”

The two of them opened the door and stepped out onto the gantry. As it began descending, Will and Debra turned to face the soldiers and raised their hands in the air. When they reached the floor, three soldiers rushed over, two holding blast rifles and the third a scanner. He scanned Will and Debra and then removed their equipment belts.

“All clear,” he shouted.

The soldiers gestured with their rifles for Will and Debra to start moving. They walked forward until they stood in front of the woman. She had short blond hair with a few streaks of grey and her face, while still pretty showed the wear of a lot of time spend outdoors. Will recognized the insignia she wore on her uniform indicating she had a rank of Synta, which was equivalent to a colonel in Earth’s military.

“You may lower your arms,” she said. “I’m Synta Velin and will be responsible for you while you’re in Ormecran custody.”

She looked at Will. “It’s an honor to meet you Captain Power. However, I never expected it to be under these circumstances.”

Will shook his head and gave a small smile. “Nothing personal, but at the moment I wish we weren’t meeting at all.”

Synta Velin smiled. “No offense taken, Captain.” She turned to Debra. “And what is your name?”

“Debra.”

The Synta waited for her to continue, but Debra remained silent.

“It’s my understanding that Earth people generally have at least two names,” she said with a frown. “Now what is your full name?” she demanded.

“Debra Corlander,” she answered in an uncomfortable tone.

“Better,” she said tapping on the tablet in her hand. “These soldiers will escort you to the detention area.” She looked down at the tablet. “Should take us five days to reach Ormecra where you’ll be transferred to another ship for the trip to Earth.”

“Wait,” called Will as she began walking away. “Don’t you want to hear our side of the story?”

She stopped and turned to face him. “That’s not really not our concern. The courts on your own world will determine your guilt or innocence.” She started walking away again.

“Even if it has to do with the new phase weapon you’re developing?” called Debra.

The Synta stopped for an instant, but quickly started walking again, but faster than before. “Take them to their cells,” she ordered brusquely as she left the landing area.

The soldier who’d scanned them earlier, took out two sets of handcuffs. “Hands behind your backs,” he ordered. Will and Debra complied and in less than a minute, their hands were cuffed behind their backs.

The soldier who’d cuffed them took Will’s arm and another soldier took Debra’s. The other two soldiers remained behind them hold their blast rifles. The soldiers quickly marched them to the door which slid open in front of them. From there, they went down various corridors and passed through several more doors.

At last they entered a large room in which three of the walls were lined with open enclosures which contained a cot and a small walled off area which Will knew to be a bathroom. None of them were occupied. Will was led to an enclosure and Debra to the one next to his. Once their handcuff were removed, they were pushed into the enclosure. A light green haze appeared over the entrance of each enclosure as a force field was activated to trap them inside.

Two soldiers left the room and the two remaining soldiers headed over to a console which was near the wall without enclosures. From there they could keep an eye on all the enclosure.

Debra moved up to the front end of her enclosure on the side nearest to Will’s. “Will.”

“I’m here.”

“Do you think they’ll talk to us?”

He paused to consider the question. “Based on the way Synta Velin reacted when you mentioned the phase weapon, I’m sure she’s contacting her superiors right now. I suspect they’ll be very interested in finding out how we knew about it.”

Will’s optimism proved correct as within an hour, a group of three officers and two soldiers led by Synta Velin entered the detention area. Will saw that one of them wore the insignia of a Navarch, the equivalent of an admiral. He couldn’t help but smile.

The group stopped in front of Debra’s enclosure and the force field was deactivated. She couldn’t help but notice the way the officers were looking at her. It seemed to be a mix of anger and disgust. “Come with us,” ordered Synta Velin sharply. As Debra stepped outside, her arms were pulled behind her and her hands cuffed together. She looked back at Will in confusion as she was hustled out of the room by the soldiers.

She was taken to a room not far away. It wasn’t very large with a long thin table with several chairs on one side and a single chair on the other. Debra was put in the single chair with her arms looped over the back of the chair. Her hands were yanked down and the chain of the handcuffs slipped in a hook so she couldn’t get up.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The soldiers left the room and the three officers sat down in the chairs opposite Debra. The expression on their faces didn’t change. Synta Velin leaned forward and glared at Debra. “We’ve checked you out and have discovered you’re wanted for desertion.”

Debra looked down, the shame turning her face red. “It’s true,” she answered in a low voice.

“Did Captain Power know?” asked the Navarch.

“No, not at first,” said Debra. “I did tell him eventually.”

The Navarch nodded. “And did he arrest you?”

Suddenly she understood what was going on. They were trying to get Will through her and she’d played right into their hands. The shame was gone, replaced by anger.

Debra glared at the officers in front of her. “Now let’s get one thing straight,” she cried in a voice filled with fury. “Will had nothing to do with the choices I made.”

“Calm down!” ordered Synta Velin.

“I will not calm down,” shouted Debra, trying to stand, but the handcuffs dug into her wrists holding her in place. “The only reason Will’s being called a traitor is because he refused Grandle’s order to destroy your plasma weapon.”

The three officers looked at one another in shock.

Debra was breathing heavily now, her wrists aching from the cuffs digging into them. “I admit to what I’ve done,” said Debra between breaths. “But Will is innocent.”

“Can you prove this?” demanded the Navarch.

Debra shook her head. “I can only tell you what I heard.”

The three officers put their heads together and began whispering. Debra tried to hear what they were saying, but couldn’t make anything out.

Synta Velin pressed a button on the table and the two guards reentered the room. “Take her back to her cell,” she ordered. “Then bring Will Power back here.”

Debra’s face was ashen and she looked haggard as the guards brought her back into the detention area.

“What’d you do to her?” cried Will rushing forward, but he was thrown back by the force field.

“I’m all right, Will,” called Debra in as load a voice as she could muster. “It’s okay.”

The guards removed Debra’s handcuffs and she stepped back into the enclosure. The force field sprung back to life behind her. They stepped over to Will’s enclosure and deactivated the force field. Part of Will wanted to jump them, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. He turned around so they could put on the handcuffs and the soldiers led him away.

Soon Will was sitting in the chair Debra had been sitting in only a short time before. Like her, his handcuffs were hooked to the chair so he couldn’t get up. As the soldiers left the room, he stared at the officers sitting before him showing no sign of fear.

“Were you aware that Debra Corlander was guilty of desertion?” asked Synta Velin.

“Yes, she did tell me,” he answered in a calm voice.

“At that time did you place her under arrest?”

“No.”

“Why not?” interjected the Navarch.

“Two reasons,” explained Will. “As I had tended my resignation from Earth’s military, I was under no obligation to do so.” Will smiled to himself in anticipation of the response to his next point. “Secondly, she’d just helped me end Earth’s invasion of Celentus so arresting her didn’t seem appropriate.”

“Preposterous,” cried Synta Velin. “If such a thing had happened, we’d have been aware of it.”

Will wished his hands were free so he could cross them and lean back. “Apparently not,” he said. “However, feel free to check my ship’s sensor records to see if I’m telling the truth.” He paused for effect. “Or better yet, why don’t you contact King Raphul of Celentus to collaborate my story.” He smiled and gave his handcuffs a little jiggle. “I’ll be happy to wait since I can’t really go anywhere.”

The three officers huddled for several minutes before the Navarch and the other officer stood up and left without a word.

Synta Velin sat there staring at him for a few minutes. Finally, she just shook her head. “Why do I get the impression you’re enjoying this, Captain Power?”

“Perhaps because I am,” he answered.

“And what of your friend Debra?” replied the Synta, leaning back and drawing small circles on the table with her finger. “Would you enjoy seeing her executed for desertion?”

Will’s smile faded and he fixed his gaze on her. “I won’t let that happen, no matter who gets in my way.”

The Navarch entered the room, his face slightly grey. He looked at Synta Velin. “I just spoke with King Raphul. He confirmed everything Captain Power told us.” He turned to Will. “He also threatened to withhold all future jerlinium shipments to Ormecra if we didn’t release Captain Power and Miss Corlander immediately.”

“But Miss Corlander is guilty of desertion,” argued Synta Velin.

“I know,” replied the Navarch. “However, we need jerlinium to maintain our fleet. The defense of our planet is more important than a single criminal, no matter how vile their crime.”

Synta Velin nodded. “I understand.” She pressed a button and the soldiers came into the room. “Release him,” she ordered and the soldiers immediately took off the handcuffs.

Standing up, Will stretched his arms. “And Debra?”

“Bring the woman here, no restraints,” she ordered the soldiers although Will could tell she wasn’t happy about it.

The Navarch sat down, but Will remained on his feet, glad to be able to stretch his legs and arms.

“Miss Corlander made an allegation that Earth’s president had ordered you to attack one of our weapon facilities. Do you have any proof of this?”

Will thought back to his conversation with the president the night he’d met Debra. He’d been ordered to destroy the new Ormecran weapon, had expressed his concern with attacking an ally, the President had pushed back, Gwen would meet his at the airport, and the information had been downloaded to his ship’s computer. That was it.

“Yes, I do,” answered Will. “The information for the mission was sent to my ship’s computer. It’s likely encrypted so I’ll need to go to the ship to retrieve it.”

“That won’t be necessary,” the Navarch replied. “We set up a connection to your ship's computer to check your sensor logs. I’ll have a link station brought in so you can access the data.”

The door opened and Debra hesitantly stepped inside. Seeing Will, she rushed over and wrapped her arms around him. Synta Velin and the Navarch acted as if she wasn’t there.

“What’s going on?” she whispered, looking over at the two officers.

“It’s okay,” answered Will. “They’re letting us go.”

She gave a relieved smile. “How’d you accomplish that?”

Will shook his head. “It wasn’t me. King Raphul threatened to cut off their jerlinium supply if they didn’t release us.”

A soldier carried in a small keyboard attached to a screen and placed it on the desk. Will sat down in front of it and began typing. It a minute he turned the device around so the two officers could see it.

As they read through it, their mouths fell open. “This shows all the security measures for the weapons facility,” said Synta Velin shaking her head. “How could anyone have gotten this information?”

“I’d guess a spy has infiltrated the facility,” suggested Will. “You should change all your security protocols in case Grandle tries to send someone else in.”

“I’ll have it taken care of immediately,” said the Navarch getting to his feet. “Synta Velin, please have quarters assigned for our guests.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If it’s all right,” said Debra. “Could Will and I share quarters?”

Synta Velin looked up from her tablet. “Is that okay with you, Captain Power?”

“Of course, just as long as it has two beds.”

Synta Velin gave a small smile as she continued typing on her tablet, then stood up. “Please follow me, Captain Power,” she said leading the way out of the room.

She led Will and Debra along almost the entire length of the ship to where the guest quarters were located not saying a word the entire way. She finally stopped at a door. “Here are your quarters, Captain Power. I’ll have your,” she paused, “and Miss Corlander’s belongings brought here from your ship.”

"Thank you," said Debra, but Synta Velin was already quickly walking away. Debra watched her for a moment before following Will inside.