In the Presence of My Enemies (14 page)

   Hast nodded. “Once you’ve secured everything, I’ll meet you on the bridge. I have things to gather here before we leave.”

   “You don’t plan on coming back?”

   “I’ll die before I come back to this accursed world of sand.”

* * *

   In the small, cramped cell on board the ship, Shawn looked down at Trent and Ambassador McDermott, who were both fast asleep. Melissa was busy gazing out the small port side window that was afforded the cell, occasionally sighing heavily in frustration, but saying little else.

   The
Golden Storm
had departed Falorin several hours earlier, and in that time had already traversed one jump gate and several sectors of completely empty space. Even the stars streaming past the window had been few and far between in the last hour, and Shawn briefly entertained the thought that the
Golden Storm
was entering that area of Meltranian space known as the Darkness. Standing near the cell door, any hopes of an escape were dashed when Shawn tested the strength of the metal bars keeping them from their freedom, giving several key points a firm shake and finding absolutely no give in the material.

   “I don’t suppose you know where we are
,” Melissa finally said.

   Shawn turned to see that she’d assumed a kneeling position on the bed, he
r well-toned legs tucked under her as she continued to stare out the window. Despite their perilous position of being locked in the brig aboard a pirate ship, Shawn found himself admiring her physique. But now was not the time to dwell on their relationship. Casting the thoughts aside, he nonetheless took up a similar position and kneeled beside her.

   Seeing that he was intent on looking outside as she was, and wanting more than ever to be close to him, Melissa smiled and shuffled over to give Shawn an unobstructed view.

   “I’m really not sure,” he said after gazing outside the ship for a moment. “I don’t see any constellations I recognize.”

   The two continued to view the passing stars in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Trent had begun to snore softly, and the
ambassador was still passed out—but whether it was from the drugs administered by Melissa earlier or from sheer exhaustion, it wasn’t immediately clear.

   Folding her hands together, Melissa placed them on the edge of the window and leaned her chin on top of them and sighed again.

   “What’s on your mind?” Shawn asked, hoping to break the uncomfortable silence.

   “Lots of things, really. My father; our mission; the
ambassador . . .” Her words trailed off, and then she turned to face him. “You.”

   “Me?” he asked in jest. “What did I do now?”

   “Nothing,” she chuckled lightly, then turned her attention back to the view. “Everything.”

   “Something tells me that a serious conversation is about to ensue.”

   Melissa gazed for another moment before speaking again. “You haven’t mentioned anything about what I told you back on
Sylvia’s Delight
when we were about to crash.”

   It was true
; Shawn hadn’t once brought it up since the crash, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t the one recurring thought that had been reverberating through his mind since then. He told himself that there were many more important things to be done—making sure that the ambassador was safe being the paramount one—and now they were stuck in the belly of the proverbial beast. Why was there always something preventing him from talking to her—really talking to her? What was holding him back? There had been ample opportunity to make the time, but he had always found a way to make himself unavailable to her. Perhaps, when it really came down to it, he was scared of being open with someone—anyone—after the death of his wife. In all honesty, he didn’t know what to say, other than he cared for Melissa a great deal . . . and it seemed to pale in comparison to what she had told him.

   Melissa must have sensed his trepidation at responding to her, and decided to save him the embarrassment. “I just
. . . I just wanted you to know that I meant it. I do love you, Shawn. I wanted you to know that I’m not asking for anything in return. If you can’t—if you don’t . . .” She let her words trail off as she composed herself, a fit of tears quickly welling up. “Just promise me you and I will try to talk about it.”

   He turned to her, reaching out hand to lightly stroke her face. “I don’t know what I have to offer
. . . or how much of it I’ll be able to give you . . . but I promise I’ll do my best.”

   She could see the honesty in his eyes, the battle that was being waged in his mind as he tried desperately to give her what she wanted without compromising himself. She loved him even more for it. Grasping his hand in her own, she leaned toward him, fully intent on kissing him. Just as their lips touched, the two were thrown from the bed as the
Golden Storm
encountered a violent jolt.

   Melissa had rolled to the floor, while Shawn landed squarely on top of Trent. Stirred from his sleep, Trent unconsciously embraced Shawn lovingly. “Let’s just sleep in for a while longer, sweetheart,” the mechanic cooed with his eyes
still closed.

   “Wake up, you idiot,” Shawn yelped as he fought himself from Trent’s impressive grasp.

   Trent’s eyes popped open to the sight of both Shawn and Melissa getting to their feet. “Are we there yet . . . wherever
there
is?”

   “Not likely,” Shawn said as he scampered back to the bed and gazed out the window. “We’ve been hit.”

   “By what?” Melissa asked, rushing back to his side in time to see another Rugorian blockade runner scream past the window.

   “An energy blast,” Shawn said,
craning his head to follow the path of the new warship.

   “By their own people? By more pirates?”

   As the two watched, a warship of a different configuration bolted past the window and let loose another salvo of energy blasts that shook the
Golden Storm
once more.

   “By a
lot
more pirates.”

“Treaties are like roses and young girls; they last while they last.”

—
Charles de Gaulle

G
eneral (later President), Nation of France, Old Earth calendar 20
th
Century

   Another volley rocked the
Golden Storm
, threatening to knock Shawn and the rest of the team down to the floor. Trent had managed to stagger toward the cell bars and was currently holding on for dear life.

   “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

   “I wish I could,” Shawn replied as he braced himself against a far wall.

   “Feels like we’re going from the frying pan into the
fire.”

   Shawn stepped closer to his old friend and grabbed a set of bars. “Our goose isn’t cooked yet
.” 

   “Can we please stop with the puns,” Melissa said from the bed as she braced herself against the far wall. “If I’m going to die, I would like to go without the jokes.”

   “I have neither a gun nor a ship, so I’m fresh out of ideas,” Shawn replied just before the ship took a direct hit from one of the attacking warships. The ensuing shockwave succeeded where the last few warning shots had failed, and everyone save for Melissa was thrown once again to the unforgiving deck.

   “This is fun,” Trent murmured from somewhere behind Shawn. “Remind me to thank the good Colonel Tausan for this brilliant idea.”

   As if on cue, the outer door to the brig popped open with a clang, and there stood the Kafaran colonel.

   “Tausan,” Shawn yelled from the floor. “Get us out of here, man!”

   The colonel wasted little time in deactivating the cell door from a panel on the far side of the room. “My door was thrown open after the last jolt. Apparently my cell was not constructed as securely as your own.”

   “Any idea who is out there attacking us?” Melissa asked, the first one out the door after
he’d deactivated the lock.

   “If I were to wager a guess, I would say it is a feuding
House of the Rugorian line.”

   “How do you figure?” Shawn asked as he joined Melissa outside their former cell.

   “While the captain was successful in discovering how to incapacitate me, he evidentially failed to realize that Kafarans have superior hearing. During a conversation he was having with the first mate, I came to the conclusion that all is not well in the Rugorian Empire. It’s possible we may be seeing the seeds of an interspecies conflict being planted here.” As he finished, the
Golden Storm
shook under another volley of weapons fire.

   “These aren’t seeds, Colonel
,” Trent quipped. “This is a full-blown tree! And they’re hurling fruit at us like there’s no tomorrow.”

   The
colonel grunted. “I’m beginning to fear that there will
be
no tomorrow if we do not soon extricate ourselves from this situation.”

   “Oh, you think?” Trent snapped. “Whatever gave you
that
idea?”

   “Trent, shut it,” Shawn yelled. “You’re not helping. Would someone please find me a gun?”

   “Is that how you solve all your problems?” Ambassador McDermott said from behind him. “Judging by our surroundings, I take it we’re not on Falorin any longer.”

   Shawn whirled to face the younger man, shocked to see him standing on his own two feet. “
We’ve been taken aboard a Rugorian ship, Ambassador. And by the way, it’s not a way of solving problems, but under the circumstances, it would certainly even a few of the odds quickly stacking against us.”

   McDermott sighed as he scanned the unfamiliar surroundings of the brig lobby. “
I’m forced to agree on that point. Negotiations
can
be easier when both sides are closely matched.”

   Melissa stepped to McDermott’s side, putting an arm around his waist for support. “Scott, can you move quickly?”

   “I . . . I don’t think so.”

   “He has lost quite a bit of blood,” Tausan said as he moved next to them. “It will be difficult to continue with any kind of stealth.”

   “Perfect,” Shawn muttered. “We might as well open the passageway doors and announce to the world our newfound freedom.” But even as he said it, he knew it wouldn’t matter. Pirates attacking pirates could only mean one thing: they were about to be boarded. With twice as many brigands about, it was going to make an already untenable situation nearly impossible. “We need to find a way to get someone in here without raising too much suspicion,” Shawn said to Tausan, who agreed with a nod. “Hopefully, given the current situation, he’ll be armed.”

   “That’s great,” Trent smiled. “But how do we do that?”

   All at once, the door to the brig foyer flew open, and one of the crewman of the
Golden Storm
rushed in and quickly slammed the door shut behind him. Oblivious to the recently emancipated prisoners, he worked feverishly to activate the inner lock, making sure that no one without so much as a grenade would come through the door. Satisfied that the door was secure, he withdrew two side arms and aimed them at the door. Cautiously, the pirate stepped backward into the room, his eyes and the aim of his weapons never leaving the door. It wasn’t until he bumped into a large, soft mass that the crewman stopped. Craning his head slowly over his shoulders, he caught sight of a large forearm. Following the armor-coated appendage, the crewman’s eyes moved further and further up until they locked into the gaze of the Kafaran who had been stunned on the bridge earlier.

   “Good afternoon,” Tausan said slowly.

   “He-hello,” the man replied nervously.

   Shawn stepped over to the young man, cautious about staying outside the field of fire of his weapons. “I’ll just take those, if you don’t mind
,” he said, easily pulling the guns from the stunned crewman’s hands.

   “Yeah
. . . sure,” the young man stammered, still looking into the ruby eyes of the Kafaran.

   “What’s going on out there?” Shawn asked as he tossed one of pistols to Melissa, but the young man remained speechless.    

   “I think you should answer him,” Tausan said as he looked down at the small human.

   “B
-boar-boarders,” he stammered. “Boarders. We’re being boarded.”

   “That’s better,” Tausan said with a nod.

   The young man swallowed hard. “Wow. You’re really tall,” he whispered, his voice trembling with fear. “And scary.”

   “What’s your name, son?” Shawn asked, but he could see that the
colonel had the pirate’s undivided attention.

   “I’m
-I’m—”

   “Yes?” Tausan enticed.

   “I-I’m-I’m going to pass out now, if you don’t mind.” And with that, the crewman’s eyes rolled up into his head as his body slumped to the floor.

   “Was is something I said?” Tausan asked as he regarded the body.

   Shawn smirked. “I think it has more to do with those dashing good looks of yours.”

   “At least we know what’s happening,” Melissa said, checking the young man and finding a strong pulse.  

   “The question is, what do we do with that information?” Shawn replied.

   “There’s a saying among my people,” Tausan piped in. “An ally is made from my
enemies’ enemy.”

   “We have a similar saying,” McDermott said. “Perhaps it’s one more thing to help build a foundation for our two people to come to terms with each other.”

  
Always the diplomat
. “A fortune cookie is a long way off from a peace treaty, Ambassador,” Shawn said. “Besides, we have bigger fish to fry.”

   “I’m so hungry,” Trent murmured. “Let’s not use any more food analogies, okay?”

   Disregarding Trent, Shawn handed one of the pilfered side arms to Tausan. “Colonel, as far as I can tell, you’re still in charge. What’s next?”

   “We’re on
board ship, Commander, and you are more familiar with these surroundings than I. I will, for the time being, defer to your experience.”

   “Al
l right, then. Let’s get started. First, we make sure the passageway outside is empty.”

   “And from there?” McDermott asked.

   “We make it to the engine room.”

   “Why not the bridge?”

   “Because, Ambassador, if we control the power plant we control the vessel.”

   Trent nodded in approval. “Besides,” he added, “it’s very likely that the auxiliary control room is situated near engineering
—if this ship has such a place.”

   Shawn turned to Tausan. “Once the door is open, you take the high position in one direction and I’ll take the low one in the other. With any luck, we’ll get the drop on anyone out there.”

   “But if we’re being boarded,” Melissa began, “then how will you tell one pirate from the other?”

   “Who said I was interested in telling the difference?”

    “Agreed,” Tausan said. “It will be better to shoot first and make the distinction later. We may be walking into an even bigger problem with two parties against us.”

   Shawn reached over and set Tausan’s pistol to non-lethal. “That will knock out any Rugorian for a good few hours.”

   “Interesting,” the Kafaran said as he regarded the weapon. “Our weapons have no such distinction.”

   “You were just going to shoot to kill?” Shawn asked in disbelief.

   The Colonel seemed to regard his statement with mixed curiosity. “Is there any other reason to do so?”

   Shawn let out a chuckle, then turned to McDermott. “Still think we’re going to make good allies?”

   “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, Commander.”

   “More fortune cookies,” Shawn muttered, then motioned Tausan to join him at the door. Standing near the control panel, Shawn crouched in anticipation. “I’ll open the door and then we make our move. Agreed?”

   The colonel nodded wordlessly as Shawn reached for the control switch. “On three. One. Two. Three.” He pressed the button and the door popped open. Shawn pivoted out of the door and to the left, and Tausan pointed his weapon above the commander to the right. The passageway was deserted.

   Shawn careened his head up to face Tausan. “Well, this is a good start.”

   Suddenly a slew of pirates came barreling around the far right corner, weapons blazing, screaming some sort of battle cry at the top of their lungs. Shawn and Tausan barely had enough time to duck back into the brig lobby before a dozen energy bolts whizzed past their heads. 

   “Now what?” Melissa said as she knelt by Shawn.

   “We shut the door!” He reached up and slammed his fist against the control panel, causing the lobby door to abruptly close. “And if anyone knocks, we do
not
let them in.”

   “The natives seem a bit restless tonight,” Trent said as he worked feverishly at the door controls.

   “Restless? I’d say they’re downright belligerent,” Shawn said, switching his weapon to “kill.” “What is it you’re doing up there?” 

   “I’m locking the door with an encryption key,” Trent replied smartly.

   Shawn looked at him with uncertainty. “You can do that?”

   “Do it?” Trent laughed. “Try
‘already done.’ That should hold them for a while.”

   When the pirates on the other side failed to gain access to the brig, they began to pound on the door. It sounded like a dozen fists, all smacking the steel surface out of harmony. A moment later, the beating abruptly stopped. When nearly a full minute had passed, Shawn stepped toward the door, placing his ear against its surface in an attempt to hear what was going on beyond it. A series of soft knocks at the door caused him to re
el back.

   “That’s sounds pretty cordial,” Melissa said. That was when a disembodied voice began to echo in the small compartment.

   “Hello? You there, in the brig.”

   Shawn and the rest looked into the overhead, trying to decide where the intercom speakers were.

   Shawn took the liberty of speaking for the group. “Yeah?”

   “Would you kindly open the door please?” the male voice asked.

   “Why? So we can get blasted to pieces?”

   The voice chuckled. “I can assure you all that no such thing will happen.”

   “And I’m supposed to take your word for that?”

   “I’m afraid you have very little choice in the matter, sir,” the voice said with assurance. “That being said, the House of Fiefs i
s now in control of the vessel. My name is Captain Voula, and I command the warship
Leader’s Pride
. We are not in the habit of either taking offworlders prisoners nor harming those we deem our guests.”

   “What about the crew?”

   “The captain and the crew of the
Golden Storm
have been detained for acts of sedition, but are otherwise unharmed. Now, will you kindly open the door? If we are forced to do it for you, we cannot be held accountable for any damage that such an entry might cause.”