Atlantis Rising (25 page)

“I’ll be outside if you need me
Princess. Holler for me if the Captain here gives you too many problems,” Andie
said. She winked at Jon as she walked out of the room.

Jon groaned and muttered,
“Women.”

“I heard that,” Andie hollered.

“Yeah, yeah! And you know it’s
true, too,” Jon said.

Jon had a smile on his face. If
there was one other woman he loved as much as his sister, it was Andie. He had
grown up with her and they shared many of the same interests, though they had
never dated.

“Captain Hunter,” the Princess
said as she turned around. “I’m Princess…”

Their eyes locked and Jon’s brain
started to feel as though it was on fire. The woman’s beauty was beyond words.
Her skin shimmered in the light of the room, as if diamond dust covered her.
Her golden eyes pulled him in and allowed him no escape. Her hair floated, as
though weightless, it’s amber and platinum strands seeming to wave at him,
calling to him. Somehow, through the haze, he noticed she had stopped talking.
She too, had frozen in place.

Time stood still as they stared
at each other. Slowly, the burning began to fill his body, making him want to
scream in pain. Something clicked in his head, and the pain started to subside.
The world once more came to life as his mind cleared.

“…Deatra, C’loth of the Eutharan
First Tier House,” Deatra said.

Jon blinked for a second, “I’m…
you’re the girl of my dreams. I mean, from my dreams.”

Deatra smiled, “Really?”

“I’m sorry. I’m Captain Jonathan
Hunter,” Jon said while blushing a bit. “My apologies, Princess.”

By now, the handmaidens were all
looking at each other in surprise. Carex was switching his gaze between Jon and
Deatra as he watched what was going on.

“What?” Jon asked Carex.

“Uh, nothing,” Carex said.

Before Jon could pin Carex down,
Deatra spoke up, '‘you said I was from your dreams?’'

“I’m sorry, Princess,” Jon said.

“Deatra,” Deatra said.

“Okay, I’m sorry Deatra. It was a
slip,” Jon said.

'‘My people put a lot of stock in
dreams, Captain,’' Deatra said. “Jon,” Jon said.

“Very well, Jon. We have a strong
belief that every dream means something. So that is why I’m interested in what
you said,” Deatra said.

Jon watched her closely as she
spoke and gasped.

“You’re a telepath?” Jon asked.

“I’m sorry, does it bother you?”
Deatra said out loud.

“No, but let’s not let everyone
know that just yet. Some of my people might not be comfortable,” Jon said.

“I’m one of the few left,” Deatra
said. “I can send, I can’t read.”

“Oh,” Jon said. His nostrils
flared as her scent finally reached him. It reminded him of roses and lilacs,
with just a touch of spice.

Deatra watched him for a second
before she spoke, “Carex, I believe you’re right.”

Jon moaned, “Not again.”

“I told you, Princess. He doesn’t
believe it,” Carex said.

“You may stand, Carex,” Deatra
said. “Maybe he believes it, but just doesn’t want to admit it.”

“I do not believe in the
prophecy. I make my own fate,” Jon said.

He crossed his arms in defiance.

“Perhaps you making your own fate
happens to follow the prophecy,” Deatra said. “Perhaps you are driving the
prophecy by doing this. Prophecy is a fickle thing. A thousand different things
can look like a prophecy, or fit some of it. You know when you have the real
thing, when one after another has been filled.”

“I guess,” Jon said dismissively.

“Just giving you a different
point of view Jon,” Deatra said.

She smiled, and his world seemed
to brighten.

“I’ll think about it,” Jon said.

“On to other matters if you don’t
mind,” Deatra said.

“Sure, what’s on your mind?” Jon
said.

“The vessel that attacked us is
here, is it not?” Deatra said.

“Yes, we’re currently in a
standoff with the
Hammer
. Their Captain is pretty hot to get his hands
on you,” Jon said.

“That, Captain, must not happen,”
Deatra said. “It would destroy the Eutharan Empire if I were to fall into their
hands.”

“I wasn’t even considering it,”
Jon said. “I was just curious what could be so important to them.”

Deatra relaxed visibly as she
spoke, “Is there anything preventing us from leaving?”

“At the moment, no,” Jon said.

“Then can we please leave before
back up arrives?” Deatra said.

“Too late, another ship is here
already,” Jon said.

“The
Scythe
,” Deatra said.

“I have no idea. We haven’t had
contact with them yet,” Jon said.

“It always travels with the
Hammer
and you won’t have any contact with them,” Deatra said. “The Captain
of the Scythe takes orders from the
Hammer
.”

“Well, then I guess it’s time to
leave this little party and be on our way,” Jon said.

“Yes, please,” Deatra said.

Jon started to bow but Deatra
stopped him, “Never bow to me. You are not below my position. If anything I
should be the one bowing.”

“Uh, okay,” Jon said. “But, I’m
not a Prince.”

The look Deatra gave him told him
there was more going on than he knew.

“Come on Carex,” Jon said. “Let’s
go take care of our problem. Atlantis, meet us on the Bridge.”

“If you don’t mind I need to
speak to Carex for a second. He’ll join you on the Bridge,” Deatra said.

“As you wish,” Jon said. He
turned and walked to the exit of the Medical Ward.

“How did it go?” Andie asked.

“Strange, very strange,” Jon
said.

“I hope you didn’t fall over when
you saw her. Her beauty is astounding,” Andie said. She was grinning at Jon.

“Nope, I didn’t fall over. I was
even able to keep my hands to myself, tough as it was,” Jon said. He was
grinning back.

Andie laughed.

“I have to get going, we can talk
more later,” Jon said as he continued on.

“Okay, take care,” Andie said.

“I will,” Jon said.

Jon exited into the corridor and
walked up to Marc.

“Get down to the hangar and get
all those people moved towards the center of the ship. We’re probably going to
be in a battle shortly and I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of
carelessness,” Jon said.

“Yes, Sir,” Marc said.

He turned and ran down the
corridor.

Jon turned to the guard at the
door as he spoke, “No one, and I mean no one, is to enter unless you are given
an order by Andie, Carex or I. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” Jon’s marines all
said.

However the Royal Guards had
different opinions, “Sorry, but you do not command us. We will allow the
Princess to decide who and who doesn’t enter.”

“Remove your helmet,” Jon
snarled.

“Excuse me?” the guard said.

“Remove your helmet. I don’t want
to break any of the bones in my hand when I punch you in the jaw,” Jon said.

The guard laughed, “That wouldn’t
be advisable.”

“What part of ‘this is my ship’
do you not understand? Do you think I’m ordering you to do something for my
health?” Jon said.

“I…” the guard started.

Jon cut him off as he continued,
“Never mind I’m not arguing with you.” Jon turned to his marines, “Spread out
down the corridor and seal this corridor. No one in or out of this corridor
unless cleared.”

“Yes, Sir,” a sergeant said. The
marines spread out and took up positions on both ends on the corridor.

“You have no right,” the guard
started.

“I do! My ship! My rules! You
were ordered to guard this door right?” Jon said.

“Yes,” the guard answered.

“Then do so,” Jon said. He turned
and stalked off down the corridor.

“The Princess will hear about
this!” the guard shouted.

“I’m counting on it,” Jon yelled back.

Jon was standing at the planning
table with Atlantis watching the two ships. He had to figure a safe way out of
this mess. However, nothing came to mind.

“You know I have built-in
protocols, regarding dealing with the Royal Family,” Atlantis said out of the
blue.

“What do you mean?” Jon said.

“I mean I’m duty bound to make
sure they’re safe. Kind of like when we were attacked on Earth. It is an
automated response, as soon as Andie logged her in as onboard those protocols
became active. I can’t control it and if things go bad I will run,” Atlantis
said.

“That could be bad if it’s at the
wrong time,” Jon said. He was now looking at Atlantis.

Mike was also listening and not
liking what he was hearing.

“I know, I just thought I would
warn you,” Atlantis said. “I didn’t want you to…” Atlantis suddenly faded.

“Enough of that non-sense, I’ll
work on that later,” Mike said.

“What did you do?” Jon said.

“I took her offline for the time
being,” Mike said.

“That will make this a bit
harder,” Jon said.

“I know, but do you want to
chance it?” Mike asked.

“No. Keep her offline until you
get her cleaned up and I okay her start up,” Jon said.

Mike nodded.

Carex took that time to show up
on the Bridge with eight guards in armor all bearing the Royal Emblem. Jon
shook his head as he watched Carex approach and the guard spread out among the
other guards already present.

“No, get them off my Bridge,” Jon
said.

“I can’t,” Carex said. “The
Princess assigned them to you. There is nothing I can do to change their
assignment.”

“Well, tell them to leave. I
don’t need them,” Jon said.

“They won’t listen,” Carex said.
“Listen; there is no harm in it. Talk to the Princess after everything has
settled down. There is nothing I can do.”

Jon knew it was the truth and
just nodded his assent.

“Where is Atlantis,” Carex asked.

“We disabled her,” Jon said as he
stared at the map on the table.

“Why?” Carex asked.

“Programming glitch, Mike’s
working on it,” Jon said. “Now, can I please concentrate on our current
situation?”

Carex knew what glitch he was
talking about and just nodded. Sometimes Jon surprised him other times he
scared him to death.

“Helm, back us away from the
Hammer
slowly. Take us under the disabled vessel,” Jon said. “Condition
Red.”

“Yes, Sir, reversing course at
one-eighth speed,” Helm said.

“Sir, Captain Jodeas is hailing
us,” Communications said.

“Put him through,” Jon said as he
stepped out of the pit followed by Carex.

“Captain, where do you think
you’re going?” Jodeas asked.

“I have some other business to
attend to,” Jon said.

“I’m ordering you to shut down
your engines and standby to be boarded. This charade has gone on long enough,”
Jodeas said.

Jon had had it with everyone
telling him what to do. “Look there’s one too many at this party. I’m leaving
to make room. The disabled ship is all yours.”

“Last warning,” Jodeas said.

“Sorry, I don’t play well with
others,” Jon said. “Besides, Mom called and it’s time for me to go home. It
seems that the bullies are out thick tonight.”

“Fine, your call,” Jodeas said as
the transmission ended.

“Think he is upset?” Jon asked
Carex.

Atlantis shook as both ships
opened fire.

“Shields at sixty percent,”
Tactical said.

“Yeah, I think so,” Carex said.

“Helm, bring us about. Plot a
course back to the station and prepare to fold. Full speed ahead,” Jon said.

Atlantis shook again.

“Shields at forty five percent,”
Tactical said.

“Those ships pack a punch,” Jon
said. “Return fire, how long until we reach our fold point?”

“One minute,” Helm said.

Atlantis shook again as both
cruisers shot at her.

‘Hull breach in main military
hangar,’ a metallic voice said.

Jon turned white, “Security, what
is the status of the people that were in there?”

“They were all moved. Last report
was that Lieutenant Anders and a small detachment were still there,” Security
said.

“Get me Anders, right now,” Jon
said.