Chapter III: The Prisoner

"Okay, maybe that way isn't such a good idea." Rick quickly looked for a path between the crossbeams away from the alien, then pushed off. He flew between several supports, hearing shots ring off the beams as he went past. The open area of the ship did not provide much cover. Rick felt a tug on his suit. He glanced down and saw a rip along the side of his suit where a pellet grazed him. "Oh, shit." He grabbed another beam, and ducked behind a center support.

He placed his hand over the rip, hoping that he wasn’t losing too much air, and looked around for any sort of cover. There was some about fifteen meters in front of him where several of the thick central ship supports joined together. He held the edges of the rip together and leaped towards the junction. He heard more shots whiz by him, and he managed to reach the sparse cover of the juncture. He pulled out a patch, and while praying that another pellet wouldn’t hit him, ripped the backing off the patch and applied it to the rip. The rip was too long for the single patch, so cursing under his breath, Rick dug out another patch and used it to finish covering the rip. He smoothed out the seal, and flushed the poisonous air from his suit.

The garasian had ceased firing, and as Rick peered between the crossbeams, could see it moving towards him. The crossbeam spacing made ideal maneuvering for the aliens. He had to get out of this area, or he’d be spidermeat for sure. He glanced around, and spotted an open hatchway below him and to the right. He positioned himself to push off towards the opening. He then threw the cable and hook at the approaching garasian to provide a distraction, and pushed off towards the small open hatch. He heard more shots, and then felt a sting in his rear.

He flew into the small hatchway, and crashed into the far wall. The hatchway closed behind him, and as he tried to clear the ringing in his head, he realized that it was the suit's air pressure alarm. He felt the rear of the suit and discovered another small hole. The suit was self sealing to an extent, and it had sealed this small breach, but there was a continuing sharp pain in his butt.

He checked over his suit indicators, which informed him that the room's air pressure was approaching a vacuum. He glanced around, and noticed it was small, smaller than the first chamber he was in, and there was another hatchway. He shrugged. "What the hell. What else could go wrong today?" he thought to himself, and punched the panel next to the other hatch. The panel blew open, and Rick was blown into another corridor. He hit the far wall, and slumped to the floor under the effect of an artificial gravity field.

Rick shook his head to clear it. "I gotta stop doing that. It hurts," he mumbled to himself. He looked up and down the short corridor. It wasn't more than fifteen meters long, and had four other hatchways other that the one he blew in through, which had closed right behind him. He stood up, and noticed that the gravity felt normal, almost Earth strength. The hatchways were more rectangular, humanoid shape rather than the hexagonal garasian style. The shape of the corridor was in humanoid fashion, with the door controls to the hatchways at a standard height. It was obvious that the garasian ship carried more than just garasians.

Rick rubbed his butt absently as he limped down the corridor. The door controls were more complex than a standard lock. There was a security pad on each control, like he had seen in restricted areas or on prison doors. 'Maybe I'm not the only human still alive to have seen the inside of a garasian vessel,' he thought. He heard the door open behind him and twisted around. The garasian with the rifle appeared in the hatchway. Rick glanced around for another avenue of escape, but there was none. 'Well, this is it then,' thought Rick. He turned back to the garasian. "Go ahead. Kill me. You'll bring the wrath of the Stellar Patrol down on you," declared Rick.

"I think not, human," replied the garasian. "The captain has ordered that you not be killed. Remove your suit and enter that room." The garasian produced a small remote control, and a doorway next to Rick opened, revealing a small, plain, one and a half meter square room.

Rick glanced at his atmospheric indicators and they showed a safe atmosphere in this section of the ship. "And if I don't?" asked Rick.

The garasian raised the rifle. "The captain would be disappointed to learn of your death while resisting."

"Un huh. Well, I guess we better not disappoint him then," sighed Rick. He unlatched the helmet collar and set his helmet on the floor next to the open door. He opened the front of his suit and winced in pain as he removed the suit, peeling off a scab that had formed on his bottom where the pellet had hit him. Blood started to seep out of the wound, causing a thin stream to run down his leg. "Ouch. Darn it." Rick pressed one of his gloves against the wound to stop the bleeding.

"You are wounded. You need medical attention. Someone will be sent to repair your injury. Enter the room." The garasian waved the rifle at Rick.

"I'm going. Just a second." Rick piled his suit on top of his helmet, deftly removing his emergency helmet from its pocket on the suit and slipping it into a pocket in his uniform. Then, still holding the suit glove against his rear, Rick walked into the prison. The hatchway slammed shut as his heels cleared the threshold. "Not in a hurry or anything, are you?"

He wasn't expecting an answer, and didn't get one. He examined his prison, and saw that it was designed for uses of long duration. There was a humanoid shaped bunk on the right wall, and toilet facilities against the far wall. There was a fold-out table and bench built into the left wall. He sat on the bunk, still holding the glove over his wound. "I wonder what they got for medics here."

It didn't take him long to find out. His door opened a few minutes later, and a beautiful woman, tall with orange-red hair, entered. The door shut right after her, but Rick caught a glimpse of the garasian in the corridor, and no sign of his suit. The woman was wearing a one-piece white gown, simply sown up the sides with arm holes and a cloth belt. It draped down to her thighs, and set off the golden colored skin of her arms and legs well. Her face appeared chiseled, like that of a Greek goddess. She was looking down, and carrying a small bundle of white cloth.

As the door shut, she looked up at Rick, and her firm, red lips formed a small smile. "Hello." Her voice was hesitant, yet warm and pleasing. "It's nice to see another human again."

Rick just stared at her. She was more beautiful than any other woman he'd seen. She stared back at him, and it felt as if her bronze eyes were burning a hole through him.

She coughed gently. "Uh, hello. I'm Jamie. And you are. . .?"

Rick suddenly realized that she was expecting an answer. "Jamie. That's a nice name. I'm Ricky, Uh, I mean Rick. Lieutenant Rick Raygunn of the Stellar Patrol."

"Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Ricky. Visky said that you were injured?" Jamie inquired.

"Who?" asked Rick.

"You. Are you hurt?"

"Huh?" Rick shifted on the bunk, and the pellet caused a sharp pain to run up his spine. "Ow. Oh. Yes. Your friend, Visky? Shot me in rear while chasing me in here."

"He's not my friend, I assure you, and that does sound like him. He likes to play with his food," said Jamie.

"He eats humans?"

"Not that I've seen, but I've heard stories. Now take off your pants and lay down on your stomach so I can look at your wound. I can't promise it won't hurt."

"Can't hurt any worse." Rick stood up and carefully slid off his pants, thinking that he was glad to be wearing clean underwear. He laid down as instructed on the bunk. While he was doing that, Jamie folded down the table and placed the items she had been carrying on it. Rick watched her as she unpacked her tools. "Are you from the Calasian colony?" asked Rick.

Jamie laughed. "Does it show that much?" She turned to face him, holding a pair of small tweezers and an automed.

"Well, the skin and eyes are a giveaway. How did the garasians get ahold of you?" asked Rick.

Jamie's face clouded over as she sat on the edge of the bunk and pulled down Rick's briefs. She examined the wound, and then made an adjustment on the automed, and pressed it against Rick's uninjured cheek. "There. That will kill the pain so I can get the pellet out." Rick felt the pressure of the shot, and heard the hiss as the automed injected him with the painkiller. She stared at the far wall for a minute while Rick felt his bottom go numb.

Jamie started talking so quietly that it took Rick a moment to realize that she had started speaking. "I was a stewardess on a passenger liner from Calasia to Earth. As we were about to enter Calasian space, the alarms went off. I'm not sure what happened. I just headed for the emergency pods like we were instructed. I happened to be near one, and I was the first to reach it. I saw others heading for the pod, then there was an explosion. The passengers in front were blown to bits. The force of the explosion threw me against the wall of the pod and I blacked out."

"When I woke up, the pod was floating out in space, its emergency systems activated. Then this ship appeared out of nowhere, and I was dragged on board. They ripped open the pod, took everything I was wearing, gave me this," she plucked at her white shift, "and threw me in a cell next to yours."

"Wow. So they attacked your ship. Rumors have been going around that they've been increasingly responsible for pirate activity. Do you know what they were after?" asked Rick.

Jamie shook her head. "No idea. We were just a passenger liner. If there was something special on board, they didn’t tell us about it." She looked at Rick's wound. "Are you numb yet?"

Rick nodded, and Jamie started probing the wound with the tweezers, looking for the pellet. Rick felt a little pressure as she poked around, but there was no pain. "Do you know how long ago you got captured?" asked Rick.

"It seems like it's been forever. I have no idea how long I've been aboard. I tried counting the number of times I slept, but I gave up after three times. I just wasn't sure. I don't even know where we are now."

"Well, it's currently June 3rd, 2423, and we're orbiting Earth at thirty-two thousand miles," said Rick after glancing at his watch. "Ouch!"

"I'm sorry. I got the pellet out." Jamie held up the pellet for Rick's inspection, then laid it on the table. She produced a bandage from her bundle and covered Rick's wound.

Rick carefully rolled off the bed, keeping his back to Jamie, and pulled up his briefs. His rear was still numb, except for a small stinging sensation where she had removed the pellet.

"Well, if that's the time, then I've been here for two weeks. Imagine. We're so close to Earth, and no way to call for help." Jamie covered her face with her hands, and began shaking.

Rick could hear sobs coming from her. He put on his pants, pulling them carefully over his bandage, and sat on the bunk next to her. He put his arms around her and held her close as she cried into his chest. He stroked her back as she vented her pent-up emotions, and after a few minutes, she began to calm down.

"I’m sorry," she sniffed. Rick handed her a small towel from the pile on the table, and she wiped her face and eyes with it. "I don’t mean to cry like this, but I haven't seen or spoken to another human since I've been here. I though I was all alone until they brought me in here."

"Well, you're not alone any more. I promise you, we'll get out of this. Together."

"Thanks, that means a lot, but there's no way out. And even if there was, the only air to breath is theirs or none at all. We're trapped," said Jamie.

"Well, at least we're still alive, and that's half the battle. At least that’s what my mother always says," said Rick.

She looked into his eyes, her own still wet with tears. Rick could smell an exotic, spicy scent coming from her, and felt a warm response in his loins. Her lips were mere inches away from hers, and without thought, bent his head down to bring his lips to hers. He felt her body melting to his as she awaited his kiss. Just as Rick felt the warmth of her lips on his, their cell door opened, revealing the garasian with the rifle.

They jumped apart from each other like guilty children being discovered by a parent. The garasian just waited in the doorway, watching them. Finally Jamie broke the awkward silence. "Well, what do you want, Vishy?"

"Is the male repaired?" asked the garasian.

"Yes, I'm fine, no thanks to you. And my name is Raygunn. Lieutenant Raygunn."

"I care not for your name, male human. Come with me. The captain wishes to speak with you. Come."

"Be careful, Rick," said Jamie.

Rick gave Jamie a quick hug. "I'll be fine. Remember, I promise you that we'll get out of here together. And Stellar Rangers always keep their word."

"Hurry, Rick. I'll be waiting," said Jamie.

Vishy made a hurry-up noise, and Rick followed him out of the prison. This time the door didn't close right away. Vishy glanced back in the room at Jamie. "You find the male attractive?"

Jamie smiled. "After looking at you guys for two months, any human would be good looking." Vishy gave the equivalent of a shrug, and the door closed.

Rick walked up the corridor, then looked behind him. The garasian was catching up to him. The hatchway at the end was open. "Hey, I can't go there. I can't breath your air."

"The air in the ship has been made suitable for you. We have no problems in your atmosphere for a while, so the captain decided to accommodate you. Now hurry before I am forced to disappoint him." Rick felt the business end of the rifle poke him in the back.

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying," said Rick. "So, your name is Vishy. What's your captain's name?"

"Lord and master to you, human. Any sign of disrespect and he'll shove you out the nearest airlock."

"I'll be nice, Vishy. So, now that I'm a captive, what's going on? What are you guys looking for?"

"The captain will tell you if he wants. Now cease your inane chatter, and speak only when spoken to, and answer all of his questions," snarled Vishy.

Rick held his hands up in acquiescence. They entered the zero-g central corridor of the ship, and Vishy indicated that Rick should head towards the closer end. Rick slowly moved forward, not wanting to get another butt-full of pellets.

This time, Rick saw several garasians moving back and forth down the corridor, intent on ship’s business. They stayed out of Rick's and Vishy's path as they moved forward. They came to the end of the central shaft and the hatchway opened in front of Rick. They continued to move forward. This corridor was smaller than the central shaft, and they stayed to one side as the garasian traffic went past them. Finally they came to a large hatch, which Vishy opened. Rick stepped through and found himself on the control deck of the ship.

The huge display screen caught his eye, as it was displaying a view of Earth. Then as he watched, the view shifted to a pure field of stars. There was a command given, an alarm sounded, and the starfield suddenly condensed to a single point of light straight ahead. Rick felt the hyperdrive kick in, sending the ship into faster than light travel in the hyperspace dimension. The screen momentarily turned polychromatic, causing Rick to raise his hand in front of his face to protect his eyes against the glare. The view changed, and began showing a simulated real-time image of stars slowly moving past the ship.

Rick slowly lowered his hand and turned to face the command chair. The occupant twisted around to reveal, not a garasian as Rick had assumed, but a wolf-like Erscan, whose eye-patched face was infamous across the galaxy. It was Blackcoat, the coldest-blooded pirate in known space.

To Be Continued...