They walked into to common area of their quarters, which wasn’t large, but had been efficiently laid out. There was a sitting area consisting of a couch with a small table in front of it. To one side of the room was a small dining table which sat by a small food preparation area. There were two interior doors, which Debra assumed led to the bedrooms.

As Debra was taking all this in, Will’s eyes were immediately drawn to the window which provided a view of the ship moving through space. It wasn’t large, but that didn’t matter to Will. He walked over and looked out. Debra joined him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said.

“Very nice,” observed Debra in a distracted tone.

He looked over at her and was surprised at the expression of concern on her face. “Are you all right?”

“Not really,” answered Debra, shaking her head. “It was just the way those officers looked at me, the anger and hatred in their eyes.” She looked down. “Did you notice Synta Velin never even acknowledged me, only you?”

Will hadn’t noticed, but as he looked back on things, he saw Debra was right. And after what Synta Velin and the Navarch had said, he knew exactly why.

He gently put a hand under her chin and lifted her face up. “I’m sorry,” he said in a comforting tone. “Unfortunately, many of those who serve in the military consider it a personal insult when someone deserts.”

She looked into his eyes. “Do you feel that way?”

He shook his head. “No.”

She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. “Thanks. However, I won’t feel safe until we get off this ship.”

Remembering how Synta Velin had almost gleefully mentioned having Debra executed, he wasn’t so sure of her safety either. He planned on keeping a close eye on her.

“Me either,” he agreed. “I’ll make arrangements with Synta Velin to get our ship repaired so we can get out of here as soon as possible.”

“Captain Power,” announced a voice from the viewscreen. “You have an incoming transmission from King Raphul of Celentus.”

“Thank you,” he answered as he and Debra stepped over to the screen.”

In a moment the face of King Rufus appeared, a concerned look on his face which turned into a smile when he saw Will and Debra. “Captain Power and Debra, it’s so good to see the two of you. I just wanted to make sure the Ormecrans had kept their word and had released you.”

“They have, your Majesty,” replied Will.

Debra smiled and bowed. “All thanks to you, Your Majesty.”

King Rufus shook a finger and a scowl came across his face. “My dear girl, I’ve told you before that I will not have either of you bowing to me.”

“I’m sorry,” answered Debra in a remorseful tone doing her best to remember not to bow.

“No harm done,” the King answered, a smile returning to his face. “I must say I was quite put out when Navarch Winlon informed me that you two had been arrested for treason against Earth. ‘Since when is it treason to stop Earth’s unprovoked invasion of my world,’ I told him. He started blathering about some treaty, so I finally decided to make it easy for him and gave him a choice. I’m quite happy to see he made the right one.”

“As are we, Your Majesty,” replied Debra.

King Raphul nodded. “Once we’ve had a chance to recover from the invasion, I insist the two of you come to Celentus to allow my people a chance to properly express their gratitude for all you’ve done.”

“It would be an honor, King Raphul,” answered Will.

“Excellent,” answered the King. “And if the Ormecrans give you any more trouble, just let me know.”

“We will,” said Debra as the King’s image disappeared from the screen.

“Now to see about getting the ship repaired,” declared Will. He called out to the viewscreen, “Synta Velin.”

In less than a minute, her face appeared on the screen. “Captain Power,” she called with a smile which faded when she saw Debra. “I trust everything is okay with your quarters?”

“They’re excellent,” he responded. “I just wanted to see about getting my ship repaired so we can leave.”

“Navarch Winlon has issued orders for your ship to be repaired. The work is scheduled to begin first thing in the morning.” She looked down at the tablet she was holding. “Scans of your ship have shown that shields and engines need to be repaired. We also detected some hull damage.”

“That’s right.”

“Good. I’ll keep you informed of the progress.”

“Thank you,” answered Will

Synta Velin nodded and the screen faded to black.

“I don’t trust her,” stated Debra.

Will looked over at the blank screen and nodded. “Perhaps we should keep an eye on things while they’re doing the repairs.”

The door buzzed. Will walked over and pressed the button to open it. Outside stood two soldiers carrying a large metal case. It was clear that it had been hastily packed as several pieces of clothing could be seen sticking out of the cover.

“Your and Miss Corlander’s belongings, Captain Power,” declared one of the soldiers.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Thank you. You can just put it down on the table.”

The soldiers carried the case over to the table and left without saying another word.

“Might as well see what the bedrooms look like,” said Will walking over to one of the doors. It slid open revealing a room slightly larger than the crew quarters on their ship. It held a bed under which was a set of drawers, a well cushioned chair by a reading table along with a desk which folded into the wall. At the far end of the room was another door which led to a small bathroom that included a shower. The other bedroom was identical.

As Will checked out the bedrooms, Debra began sorting the items in the case the soldiers has brought. It included their equipment belts which had been taken when they arrived along with a random selection of their clothing and toiletries. “They could have at least left them folded,” muttered Debra as she pulled out piles of clothes that had clearly just been tossed into the case.

“Let me help with that,” said Will coming out of the bedroom.

Working together they soon had two neatly folded stacks of clothing. Will picked up his pile. “Which bedroom you want?” he said suppressing a yawn.

Debra looked up. “Doesn’t matter.”

“We’ll need to get up early if we’re going to keep an eye on the ship’s repairs,” he said.

Debra nodded. “Have a good night.”

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Will answered as he headed to his bedroom and as he entered, the door slid shut behind him.

Debra took her clothes and headed to her bedroom. Changing into her nightgown, she crawled into bed, but couldn’t sleep. She’d faced a lot in her life, been in battles, let a man die, shamed her father’s name, yet she’d never experienced anything like this. Such hatred from people who could only see the mistake she’d made. People who would gladly see her dead.

At last she couldn’t take it anymore. She got up, threw on her robe and headed for Will’s room. She buzzed at the door and it quickly slid open. Will stood in shorts and was quickly buttoning a shirt. A look of concern came over his face. He reached a hand to her. “Come in.”

“I’m sorry,” she said in a trembling voice. “I know I’m just letting things get to me, but I can’t make it stop.” She sat down in the chair. “I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

Will walked over and gently helped Debra to her feet. “You take the bed. I’ll sleep on the chair.”

“I can’t …” she began, but Will placed a finger on her mouth.

“No arguments,” he insisted. “Besides, I’m sure this is more comfortable than my chair on the ship. I’ll be fine.”

Debra gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.” She climbed into bed while Will stretched out in the chair. It wasn’t long before they were both asleep.

The next morning after a quick breakfast where Debra ate little, they headed out to observe the repairs to the ship. Both remembered the route they’d taken to their quarters from the day before, but that had been from the interrogation room.

They were able to get close to the landing area, but couldn’t find the right corridor to get the entrance. At last they stopped to ask a couple of officer for directions. Debra expected them to react to her as the officers who’d interrogated her had, but they were perfectly polite and even took Will and Debra to the landing area.

Walking in Will and Debra saw ten to fifteen people working on various parts of the ship. Sparks flew from a laser torch as a gash in the ship’s skin near the cargo bay was repaired by two workers on a scaffold. Other workers went in and out of the shuttle bay door carrying out blackened electronic components and returning with fresh ones.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, Captain Power,” said Synta Velin who’d walked up behind them.

“This ship and I have been though a lot together,” explained Will. “I like to keep an eye on her when she’s being repaired.”

The Synta gave a small nod. “Just be careful,” she cautioned. “I’d hate to see you get hurt.”

Turning around, she quickly left the landing area.

“I’d hate to see you get hurt,” mimicked Debra in a sickly sweet voice. She started walking towards the ship. “Let’s make sure these people are doing a good job.”

The people working on the ship had no problem with Will and Debra coming on board to observe. And when they started pitching in on the repairs, they were very appreciative of the help. With Will’s help digging into the ship’s innards and Debra running diagnostics to help identify faulty circuits, they were able to finish all the repairs with the exception of the engine in a single day.

Will couldn’t remember enjoying himself so much. The workers treated him like one of their own, not some untouchable hero. They’d even let him and Debra join them for lunch where the discussion wasn’t about past battles, but spaceship specifications and components. And seeing Debra’s smile only made it that much better.

After a long and productive day, Will and Debra headed back to their quarters as happy as they’d been in a while. The foreman had told them that the engine repairs would be finished by midday so they’d be able to leave tomorrow afternoon. That and the fact that they hadn’t encountered Synta Velin again that day had certainly brightened Debra’s outlook.

Once they reached the room, they just sat on the couch and relaxed, each doing their best to stay awake. However, it was a futile effort as both were soon fast asleep. Sometime during the night Will woke up with Debra’s head on his shoulder as she snored softly. Careful to not awaken her, he got to his feet and picked her up in his arms.

He slowly carried her to his bedroom where he gently put her down on the bed and pulled the covers up over her. After giving her a kiss on her forehead, he sat down in the chair and went to sleep.

Waking up in the morning, Debra was momentarily confused, but quickly realized she was in Will’s bed. She looked over at the chair where he was still sleeping. “Overgrown boy scout,” she muttered.

“Hey, flyboy,” she called.

He was instantly awake. “What?”

Debra sat up and smiled. “Today’s the day we get out of here. Let’s pack up and head for the ship.”

Will got to his feet. “Thought you’d never ask.”

Soon the two of them were heading back to the ship with Will carrying the metal case. They got some funny looks as people passed them in the corridor, but Will and Debra didn’t care. They just wanted to get back into space.

When they reached the landing area, the ship had been lifted into the air to allow access to the engines. A small group of people were already working on them. Seeing that they were the same people they’d worked with yesterday, Will and Debra knew they could be trusted. It took most of the morning, but at last the foreman signaled for the ship to be lowered.

She came over to Will and Debra. “Everything looks good, but once you get onboard you should run a full system to be sure.”

“We’ll do that,” answered Will. “Thanks for all your help.”

Will and Debra headed to the ship and boarded the gantry with Will carrying the metal case. As the gantry moved up the ship, they watched the workers as they made their way out of the landing area. Once onboard, they strapped themselves into their seats and began performing checks on all the ship’s systems. Will smiled. “Looks like they even fixed the aft weapons.”

Once all the checks were complete, Will turned on the radio. “Will Power to landing area control, come in landing area control.”

“This is landing area control,” crackled the radio. “You have been granted clearance to launch, Captain Power. Please stand by while the bay is depressurized and the exteriors door opened.”

“Standing by.”

As they waited, Will got on the floor and opened one of the doors to the control panel. Reaching in, he pulled out a pouch and handed it to Debra. “Let’s get this to Lord Lestron.”

“Right.”

It took nearly fifteen minutes, but at last the doors were open exposing the landing area to space.

“You are clear for launch,” radioed landing area control.

“Thank you,” answered Will.

He began flipping switches and a smile came across his face as he announced. “Initiating ignition sequence.” The engines fired and he carefully guided the ship away from the Ormecran ship. Once clear, he set course for Celentus and pushed the control stick forward accelerating them away.

“Wait, aren’t we going to Thadeus Seven?” asked Debra when she noticed the heading.

Will nodded. “I’ll adjust our course once we’re out of sensor range of the Ormecrans. Even though they kept their promise to release us, I’m not entirely certain we’ve seen the last of them.”