Interloper (The Askirti Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  “I want candy!” she belted in a slurred voice and giggled again.

  One of her friends responded, “You can have all the candy you want!”

  “Really? Hurray!” she responded quite enthusiastic, clapping her hands.

  “The candy is through this door, Jackie!” said a voice, warm and kind.

  She just smiled and giggled more as the hallway kept moving, then stopped, and there was a door, and it opened. She could not tell just how nice the room was. It was moving past her too fast. Another door appeared in front of her and it opened too! Ahead was a large bed.

  Wow! I wonder if I may jump on it! she thought to herself.

  “Can I jump on the bed?” she happily asked.

  Suddenly, her new friends left her.

  Why is the room not moving like the others? she giggled again.

  Then one of her new friends was back, a large grin on his face.

  “Where’s my candy!” she cried out happily.

  “Oh, it’s coming, have no worries, darling!” he responded.

  Then suddenly, he reached down and started unbuttoning her blouse. Where was her tunic? How had that come off?

  Whoops! There goes the boots! I hope they don’t smell!

  Her new friend was now unbuttoning her pants. The pants were sliding off fast! She was mildly concerned, but still, it felt good to dress down out of that stuffy uniform. She was looking forward to the promised candy. She hoped it was something chocolate. That was her favorite!

  Somehow her new friend pulled off her bra without unlatching it on the back. How did he manage that trick?

  Trick…Is this a trick? Wait, he’s undressing me?

  “No, stop!” she said in a slurred voice. “This isn’t what I want!” She was so very disoriented; it was hard to tell what was going on.

  Just then the panties came off.

  “No, I don’t want you to do this!” she said in a drunken drawl. “Where’s is Captain De Vitis! I have to get back to the Colt!”

  “You are not going anywhere. You are mine to do as I please tonight. Now shut up!” he yelled, slapping her hard across the face, while undressing himself, unconcerned about her emotional distress.

  Oh God no! He’s going to rape me, like that bastard in Orlando!

  Something clicked inside of Jackie, once she realized the danger. At this point, she realized he had drugged her. She knew she was helpless, which made her angry. But that anger caused an unseen reaction to happen inside of her, as whatever drug she was on suddenly reduced in dosage. She did not know this was a hidden if muted gift of her Askirti heritage. She sat up, rolling out of bed.

  “What? You aren’t supposed to be moving!” said an angry commodore.

  “Time for some tough love,” Jack slurred.

  She immediately rushed him, anger showing in her voice.

  ##

  Rick was becoming worried and started asking around. He knew he was not Jackie’s boyfriend, but he also was not used to feelings of jealousy. She saw Jackie visiting with the commodore, the man who could end the career of everyone in this room.

  “Yes sir, she was pretty loaded last time I saw her!” responded one executive officer.

  Drunk? That does not sound like her, he thought.

  “Any idea where they went?” he asked.

  “No, but I will keep an eye out!” the office responded.

  Rick was worried at that report. Jackie was known for being in control, not for losing control.

  “Excuse me, sir,” he asked one of the marine commanders present, “Have you seen Commodore Donners and a particular female officer? White hair?”

  The look on her face was fear. “I saw nothing.”

  “No, wait, what? Look, she’s the XO on my ship and someone I genuinely care about. Now where did she go!” he demanded.

  The marine squeezed her eyes for a moment, then looked both ways almost in a panic. “We’re supposed to look the other way.”

  A cold chill ran down Rick’s spine. Then he said in a deep, cold voice, “where the hell did they go.”

  One small tear ran down the marine commander’s face as she said, “I saw her being escorted out by the commodore and two of his staffers.”

  “And where would they take her?” he said, slowly and deliberately.

  She looked down, with a deep sense of shame, “ the same place they took me. To the commodore’s quarters.”

  He was sick to his stomach. He changed his tone to a calmer one. “Look, what’s your name, I’m Rick, Rick Amori. I need your help.”

  “I am Commander Heather Lumbardie,” she said.

  “Commander. I swore an oath to do my duty for my federation, and that includes this, it includes protecting the weak. As I understand it, Commander Campo may be weakened by being drugged and being held against her will. I will not break my oath, even on pain of death. I am going to grab some of my men, and you are going to do the same as well. And you are going to take me to the commodore’s quarters. It that understood?” he said.

  Commander Lumbardie gathered herself, taking a moment. She then looked up at him.

  “Yes. But we are going to have to visit the armory.”

  ##

  Jackie threw another punch at the commodore, felt and heard another tooth crack.

  Good. Serves him right.

  She was still very drugged, still very much not herself and was struggling to bring to pain to this one guy! He was not even that strong!

  Focus. I will not be a victim again.

  At that, she grabbed a lamp and slammed it against his side.

  That’ll leave a mark.

  He was enraged. This nothing of a girl was up and fighting him! He was so careful to measure out the drug, always giving the same amount. He did not want his prey unconscious. He just wanted them weak and compliant! What went wrong? No matter, he was furious his evening had been spoiled! He punched her in the stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs, then grabbed her by one arm and one leg and swung her almost one hundred and eighty degrees before releasing her, sending her flying across the room and crashing into the book shelves.

  I must call in a few favors, but I will have to kill her and say she went crazy and attacked me, he mused privately.

  At that point, he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a knife. It was time to end this.

  Jackie was on the ground. It would have been nice to stay, but she saw the commodore grab something sharp.

  Oh crap! This is turning deadly! she said to herself.

  When she turned her head and looked under the bed next to her, she saw a sword. It was probably part of a collection, who knows.

  Who keeps swords under beds? An interesting hiding spot.

  She grabbed the sword and went to stand up all too slowly. Just then she felt a stabbing pain as she was being stabbed in the back again and again!

  ##

  Rick and Heather, along with ten well-armed marines confronted the commodores ten personal guards, ten, all marines.

  “Step aside,” Rick commanded.

  “Just who do you think you are supposed to be and why should we do as you asked?” said Commander Jim Holtz.

  “I am one angry marine looking to get my XO back. We know what goes on in there, so step aside.” Rick motioned, and all twelve raised their weapons at the commodore’s personal guard, who at once raised their weapons as well.

  “You lack the dignity of being called a Federation Marine. Step aside, and we will tell them you cooperated.”

  Commander Jim Holtz’s face was red. The man had turned his back too often on too many women being sent to “spend the night” with the commodore. He looked both ways at his men.

  “Stand down,” he said, quietly. “It’s over.”

  “Sir?” one of his men said.

  “You heard me, stand down.”

  Each of the personal guards lowered their weapons then set them on the floor.

  As they reached the doorway for the commodore’s qu
arters, Rick said: “open it.”

  Holtz keyed in the override code, and the door immediately opened.

  As they walked in, the living room was neat and orderly and posh. The bedroom door was open, revealing the very opposite.

  As they rushed the bedroom, it looked like a mess with broken and overturned furniture. What was immediately noticeable more than the wreck was the headless, nearly naked body of Commodore Donner laying in front of the doorway, his head laying a few feet away.

  Rick looked to the right and saw Jackie. She was naked. She was covered in bruises and had blood all over her, protruding from several stab wounds in her back. And lodged in the left shoulder was the knife. She lay there, very still, with a very shallow breath.

  Rick yelled out “call medical! Now!” He grabbed some clothes to use as a compress on her wounds and gently applied pressure.

  At this point, Heather was in the room too, with eyes wide. Her breath caught at the sight of the dead commodore. She saw Jackie’s condition and that she was still breathing and immediately got on her comms to call for medical.

  “Rick,” said a frail voice. “You came for me,” was all she got out before passing out.

  Chapter 15

  In the Loyola Sentra System

  Ana Novak, Chief Medical Officer on board the Nemesis, had completed surgery on Commander Jacqueline Campo. The dramatic fashion of her injuries, where and by whom traveled faster than light on board the Nemesis, and throughout the fleet. The beheading of a commodore, and one that was a rapist only hastened the news.

  “Captain De Vitis, a word, please,” Ana said as she pulled off her gloves, having just left the operating room.

  Jeri was sitting in the waiting room with the much of the command staff of the Colt, and two very anxious marine commanders, one based on the Colt and the other from the Nemesis. He got up and followed her to the next room.

  “How is she?” Jeri anxiously asked.

  “She is remarkable and will make a full recovery. She should be ready for light duty in two or three days.”

  “I thought Jackie’s injuries were life threatening,” responded Jeri.

  “They were. But once the critical injuries were patched up and we applied the Quick Heal to it, it seems her body accelerated the healing process beyond anything we could do. It literally doubled the Quick Heal process, I’ve never seen anything like it!”

  More wasn’t adding up. The commander fought like someone augmented. She healed like someone augmented. She was an enigma to him, but Jeri was euphoric she would be back on duty in a few short days.

  “When can I see her?”

  “She’s heavily sedated right now, but I would say in about two or three hours,” Ana answered him.

  “Okay, thanks, doc.”

  “And Captain?”

  “Yes?”

  “She was drugged with a recreational drug called Accelerate. It makes the person using it very pliable. With as much as we found in her, she shouldn’t have been able to fight back, though I am glad she did. Another medical mystery, how did we find so much of it in her, but not being absorbed as quickly as most people? In any case, we filtered her blood to speed up the process of getting that crap out of her.”

  “Thank you doctor, and I mean that,” Jeri said.

  Jeri went back out and shared the good news with all those in the waiting room who were quite eager to know her prognosis.

  ##

  They were hanging there, by their hands, playing on the bars.

  “Amanda, Mary! Time to eat!” Jackie called out.

  Her daughters were such a handful! Amanda was barely old enough for school. She started in a few weeks. And Mary was a little thing, barely two years old. Both Askirti, so easy to tell so with the snow white hair, alabaster white skin, and sparkling, emerald green eyes. Jackie loved just sitting there looking at her children, admiring their beauty and innocence.

  They were obedient children, which helped a lot because little Luke was a handful at only six months. She had sat on the porch long enough, and it was dinner time.

  Henry was away somewhere….where was he? Why can’t I remember…

  ##

  Jackie woke up, with a tear in her eye. A sweet memory she had prayed for, and a sweet memory she got, and on such an awful day.

  “Ms. Campo? My name is Doctor Ana Novak. Do you know what happened to you?”

  “Yeah, I was drugged and attacked,” Jackie responded in a weak voice.

  Doctor Novak winced. “How are you feeling, Commander?”

  “Like I was served up for steak dinner.”

  Ana laughed.

  “Doctor, when can I leave?”

  Ana laughed again.

  “Not for a few days. In two or three days you will be ready for light duty,” she said with emphasis.

  “That long? Two or three days?”

  “That short. Look, I don’t know how you do it, but even with our best medical care, you shouldn’t be able to heal that fast for a week. Is there anything you wish to share?”

  “I have good genes?” she said innocently.

  Ana snorted. “Okay, look, I’ll buy that, for now. Listen, I wanted to tell you thank you.”

  Jackie looked at her sideways, “Thank me? For what, entertainment of the day?” she said weakly.

  “For taking care of him,” she said with tears in her eyes.

  “That bad?”

  “He took many like he took you, by drugging you. That’s what happened to me,” she said whispering. “He records everything that goes on in his quarters, and threatens to ruin you if you don’t come back on your own.”

  “How many times did he require you to go back?” Jackie asked, quietly.

  “I lost count. This is not the first time I was under his command. He makes sure those who are ‘special’ to him stay with him. If not on his same ship, then at least in the task force. His ship is his own personal kiosk. So many women that he’s blackmailed.”

  Jackie grimaced.

  “I believe someone wants to talk to you,” her doctor said as she opened the door and called out, “Captain De Vitis? She’s awake and can speak with you now.”

  ##

  “Doctor, when can I have her transferred to the Colt?” asked Jeri De Vitis.

  “Why would you want to do that? We have the best medical care in the fleet right here,” responded Dr. Novak.

  “I understand that, but I also understand the commodore and the captain were close.”

  “Oh.”

  “I have every confidence in you and your abilities, doctor, but…when?” asked Jeri with more urgency in his voice.

  “She is stable. I will write the orders immediately!”

  “Thank you. I would also request a copy of all medical records be sent over immediately.”

  ##

  On the Colt, the medical facilities seemed like the dark ages compared to the Nemesis. But Jackie was glad to be back onboard, away from that place, but found she had developed a fondness for Dr. Novak.

  Jackie was determined to live as anything but a victim. She would not allow the crimes committed against her to dominate her life and found it was encouraging to her she provided hope to someone else.

  There was something peaceful about the thought of stopping that monster from ever hurting someone again. The commodore was like the pirates. Both needed to be put down.

  He was like those who destroyed my home, she thought grimly. I will continue to hunt them and make them pay.

  Her wounds were still tender, and she was tired of the recovery process, but she was proud of how she stood up to evil and won. If only barely.

  ##

  Commodore Tabitha Summers marched on the flight deck of the Nemesis like a woman on a mission. She brought her personal staff, which included her own personal marines as the commodore before her had done.

  She mused thinking about someone taking the head off a flag officer as she had thought of that same prospect on many occasions. But t
his was a major incident, and it was time to get down to business. She made a bee-line all the way to a particular conference room setup for her arrival. Inside the conference room was Marion Breaux, Captain of the Nemesis.

  “So, in your words, what happened? I know you weren’t there during the incident, but first impressions and all,” said the commodore.

  “I think my report said it quite clearly, sir. That woman ended the life of a great man and a greater friend. It is beyond comprehension how she is not under arrest!” he said, sounding very indignant.

  “Why did you not arrest her yourself?” Tabitha demanded, a bit amused.

  “It was chaotic at first, and I was very shocked. By the time I came to my senses, she had been transferred off my ship and back to the Colt. But now that you’re here, perhaps some justice can be had!”

  Tabitha considered what to do next. The only information she had received was the death of Commodore Yusif Donners, who she knew to be a scumbag, and the grievous injuries he made apparently in self-defense against his attacker, a woman barely half his weight, the XO of the Colt.

  The commodore was not impressed with Captain Breaux. He was about what she figured. A corrupt bureaucrat who was most likely part of the problem. Yes, this meeting was productive, but it her helped to size him up. But until there was of any wrongdoing by the, she would have to retain him for this time-sensitive mission.

  “Captain, I will review all evidence and testimony, including that of Commander Jim Holtz who was taken into custody by your own Commander Heather Lumbardie.”

  Captain Breaux’s face grew bright red.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Dismissed.”

  ##

  The commodore poured through timelines and testimony of what happened and was growing furious at what she saw. Politician or not, she did not like abuses of power such as what she saw here. She diverted away from what she was looking at and pulled up the video and testimony surrounding Commander Jacqueline Campo. She saw the video footage of the marines breaching Commodore Donner's quarters. She saw the extent of the injuries and felt her stomach revolt.

  Stabbed a woman in the back no less than five times because she refused to lay there and take it?