Follow along with the Read-A-Long
"It will be interesting to discover which will make you
beg. Will it be the pain or the pleasure?"
How do you tame a man without breaking his
spirit?
The galaxy is under siege from alien invaders.
The Empire is the only force that stands in the gap, trading the freedom of its
citizens for a tenuous security.
Amidst this chaos, Lt. Adrian Stannis is a
brilliant scientist trying to stay out of the limelight. He hides on a research
vessel plying the Outer Rim and finds peace of a sort with Kali Mirren, a
psi-enabled humanoid. But his days of anonymity may be coming to an end.
Someone has discovered his secret and is determined to make him pay for his
treachery. He must finish the project he abandoned years ago, one the Council
deems essential in its fight against the aliens, but things are never that
simple where Adrian is concerned.
Is he more man than machine, or have years
hiding behind a mountain of logic eroded his humanity? Can he learn to love and
will he be able to survive the tangled web of political expediency and
psychological manipulation that surrounds him?
Will Kali be able to save him from himself, or
is there a mystery surrounding him that may explode in their faces?
Everyone wants to know the truth, but will it
set them free?
About Elizabeth Lang:
I'm a science fiction writer who started off life as a computer programmer with a love for reading, especially science fiction, fantasy and mystery.
Being in computers, I found my writing
skills deteriorating so I decided to take up writing. It became a joy to create
characters, stories and worlds and writing soon became a passion I couldn't put
down. As a writer, I like to explore, not only the complexity of characters but
the human condition from differing points of view. That is at the heart of the
Empire series, of which 'The Empire' and 'The Rebels' are the first two of a
four books series.
You
can connect with Elizabeth Lang at the following places:
The Empire - Chapter 4
Mornings can bring new perspectives or solutions to problems that
seemed hopeless the day before. Kali wished she had one of those mornings, but
today wasn’t one of them. There was a solution, but it was a ‘lesser of two
evils’ kind.
She leaned hard on the buzzer, pressing several times in quick
succession. The empty officer’s corridor was dignified and the gray-blue walls
with the Empire crest at non-discreet intervals made her audacity seem like a
capital offense. A lowly ensign shouldn’t be making a personal call on the
Captain’s cabin, and certainly not this early in the morning. The door swished
open and bleary eyes blinked at her.
“Mirren. This had better be good. And short.” Captain Tarn
smothered a yawn and rubbed a towel over damp, wavy brown hair. “I haven’t had
coffee.”
“It’s important, sir.”
He hung the towel around his neck and studied his youngest
officer, noting the dark circles and the feverish brightness in her eyes.
Either she had been dipping into the medical stores or she was bursting with an
idea. “Let me guess, this is about Lt. Stannis?”
Kali met his eyes squarely, a cocktail of accusation and
challenge in her voice. “Is he dead to you, sir?”
The Captain’s hands tugged on the ends of the towel, not liking
the taste of guilt in the morning. “It might be better if he was, for his
sake.”
“What will they do to him if he doesn’t cooperate?”
Tarn sighed tiredly. Kali wasn’t the only one who had been
spending sleepless nights. “He will cooperate or they will destroy his mind.”
“That would be worse than death for him.”
Tarn blew out a violent breath and his face came closer to hers
as he emphasized, “Don’t you think I know
that? But there’s nothing either one of us
can do.”
“You’re wrong.”
~~~
Captain Tarn abhorred visiting the Security Section of his own
ship . It was where his vile First Officer held court and abused his crew. Tarn
understood the need for discipline, but he didn’t approve of the sadistic
pleasure Barker and his people took in it. A contingent of his own blackclad
guards waited behind him, phaser rifles gripped in ready hands. He paused at
the door to the interrogation room. The metal barrier kept screams from
escaping to the rest of the ship. Abandon hope
all who enter here.
A shudder passed through him, leaving behind an aftertaste of old
fears and disgust. He remembered his own run-ins with Security people in his
younger days, before he learned how to play the game. What would he find? Most
people were never the same after sessions with the retraining therapists. The
psychological scars remained long after the physical ones healed.
Adrian had been with them for eight full days.
Tarn didn’t bother announcing his entrance. His personal override
gave him access to every corner of this ship and he fully intended to exercise
his power in that room.
“Stay here. Wait for my signal.” Tarn’s orders were terse as he
pressed the flat of his hand to the ident-pad. The door slid open and Tarn
gagged at the stench of humanity that rushed out to meet him. He steeled
himself and entered, keeping the shock from showing as moans of
pleasure, not of pain, greeted his ears.
This brilliant genius of a man was a pitiful writhing figure
sliding in a soup of his own waste. A conditioning unit imprisoned his head as
Barker’s hands—
Tarn screamed in fury, “Stop it! ALL OF YOU!”
The First Officer continued working on Adrian’s wriggling body as
he turned to face the Captain. “We are under Fleet
Admiral Verel’s orders.”
On the other side of the platform, the Therapist snapped to
attention, hoping to be regarded as a minor participant, not worthy to be
included in the Captain’s fury.
“I know what his orders are,” said Tarn, his face red with anger.
“You are relieved of your duties in this matter.”
Barker lifted his hands from Adrian’s body and slowly wiped them
on a red-stained cloth. “You have no right to do that. Not where Security is concerned.”
Tarn raised his hand as if ready to strike one or both of them.
His murderous glares gave every indication of violence to come. “On the
contrary, I think you’ll find I have every
right.” He struck his hand on the door control.
Guards rushed in, a black wave crashing through a suddenly
opened barrier, their weapons ready. All of them had experienced
the ‘wrath of Barker’ before and none of them would be upset if they had to
shoot him.
Tarn’s words were a whip of authority. “I am relieving you of
authority, First Officer.
And charging you with acting according to personal
interests, not that of the Empire.”
“That’s ridiculous!” shouted Barker, throwing the cloth on the
table. “I’m only following the Fleet Admiral’s orders. Breaking this prisoner
so he can serve the Empire.”
“And have you?” asked the Captain, a dangerous, challenging edge
to his tone.
The Empire was not kind with failure; they both knew it. A note
of defensiveness crept into Barker’s voice. “No but we’re close.”
Without the hands feeding the needs of his body, Adrian was still
moaning. A fact that made Tarn even more determined to punish his First
Officer.
“I highly doubt that.” The tone of contempt was a slap to the
face. “You’ve had him eight days.”
He read the numbers on the life sensor panel. “And you’ve
increased the drugs to a dangerous level, something the Fleet Admiral expressly
said not to do.
You were not to
endanger the prisoner’s mind or did you forget
to read that part of his orders?”
The Therapist’s voice rose in nervousness, “I was watching
carefully, sir. I would never…” His fingers edged towards the computer with a
fools desire to erase some incriminating information.
The Captain turned on him with a rage that made the Therapist
cringe and take a step back. “If there is any damage to his mind…” Tarn’s eyes
flashed with fury. “…your career is over. Flush the drugs from his system. Now.” He tore the conditioning unit from its hinges, sending pieces
flying, and threw it on the ground with a crash as the Therapist
rushed over to the panel and shoved the med tech out of the way. He worked
frantically to follow the Captain’s orders.
Barker was livid. “You can’t get away with this, Captain.”
“I’m glad you still recognize my rank,” Tarn said with icy
sarcasm. “Restrain him.” He would have preferred tying him up and throwing the
detestable man out of the airlock—he suspected the entire crew would be falling
all over themselves to help—but unfortunately, that would be an infraction.
The guards gladly followed his orders and bound the First
Officer’s hands behind him with the same manacles he used for Adrian. Barker
considered struggling but the look on the guards’ faces told him they were only
looking for an excuse to hit him in the line of duty.
Captain Tarn said, “Command does not look favorably on people who
fail or who act in their own interests to the detriment of the Empire.”
Barker spat out, “And you think you can do better? What happens
when you hand him over and he hasn’t agreed to cooperate?”
There was a hard, resolute look on Tarn’s face. “He’s going to.”
He gestured to the guards. “Take him to the brig. Keep two guards on him.”
Tarn’s steps were labored as he approached the bound man.
Brushing back hair plastered to Adrian’s face by salty layers of drying sweat,
he said, “I’m sorry I let this happen. You didn’t deserve this.”
He grimaced as he lifted Adrian’s eyelids; the man was barely
conscious. He rummaged through the colored vials in the drug cabinet, reading
the labels on the sides until he found the right one, and injected a stimulant
into Adrian’s arm.
Adrian’s eyes fluttered and he gasped as liquid energy forced him
back to consciousness. He groaned as his awakened body registered the abuse
that made every breath an agony.
“Stannis.” Tarn said the name gently.
The bound man’s head moved weakly from side to side.
“Lt. Stannis.” Tarn’s voice became one of command. “You will hear
me.”
Adrian’s eyes opened slowly, blinking at the bright lights
overhead. He rasped, “Cap-tain.”
Tarn no longer noticed the smells; the stench of his own guilt
filled his nostrils. He touched the restraints, sticky with the prisoner’s
blood. “I shouldn’t have let this happen. You were right. I was a hypocrite.
More concerned about my own career.” He owed this man, but there was little he
could do to save him. “Kali Mirren has requested a transfer to the C.S.S. Trykor.”
Exhaustion seemed to rob the scientist of the ability to remain
emotionless. He gasped, “No!”
“It’s too late. She’s offered the services of her psi abilities
and the Fleet Admiral is interested. What do you think will happen to her if
you refuse to cooperate?”
The struggle in his eyes was painful to witness. “I…don’t
understand.”
“I think you do,” said Tarn, hating himself. “She requested the
transfer because she wants to help you. She doesn’t realize she’s giving them a
hostage.”
~~~
Finally freed from the manipulative drugs, Adrian’s mind was work
ing again. He almost wished it didn’t as fuzzy details of the past week
crystallized into a sharply focused nightmare. His stomach wrenched painfully
and he groaned because there was nothing left to throw up.
A knife of despair plunged through his defenses as the captain’s
words ripped out his insides. Kali had been a thin lifeline in the nightmare
that threatened to drown him, but now…
He wrestled with the emotions that arose when he thought of Kali.
He wanted her, needed her, but he couldn’t put her in more danger. “She…”
The words tasted bitter. “Means…nothing.”
“You know they will use her to pressure you, and you know what
that means.”
I feel nothing. Sentiment is weakness. “She
is…nothing…” Each word tore through him, a jagged blade twisting inside. “She…”
“You won’t mind if I give her to Barker then? I believe she’s on
her shift.”
No! Adrian froze in
shock.
Tarn headed slowly to the door, silently willing the stubborn man
to answer. For a moment, he wondered if Kali had misjudged Adrian.
A hoarse voice whispered behind him, painful surrender in a
single word, “Wait.”
Captain Tarn’s head bent in anguish.
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