Chronicles of Athena Lee (6 page)

“Commander, can he do that? I'm not in your military. Hell, I was declared dead for the last fifteen years. How does being left alone in a far off sector by your own military become desertion?”

“Ensign, the Admiral and I think that this is in retaliation for Captain Buckley's death. The captain was the Governor's nephew. Unless something happens to change things, you are going to stand trial.”

After the lawyers left, all I could think was that this day just went from bad to way, way worse. Crap! I seemed to me that most of the charges were utter BS. The murder charge though, because the war was over...that one might stick. So much for me trying to be friends.

“Ensign, let me contact the Senate and inform them about the railroad job that this Governor is doing to you.”

Cocking my head to one side, I replied “ railroad? Whats a railroad? Oh, you mean the false charges?” Actually that is a really good idea.

“Send them a full report include whatever dirt you can dig up about these false charges.”

They want a war, they are going to get a war!

Chapter 2

With my impending arrest approaching, security added some more guards to my entourage. They also moved my accommodations to the brig. My cramped little room got bigger, but it’s now under 24 hour surveillance.My nice soft bed is gone along with my privacy. Maybe I should have just taken out that fleet and stayed on my station!

I sat in the brig for a full day before the Admiral came to see me.

“Athena, I'm sorry.” She really did look sorry.

I just glared at her.

“I don't have the power to override the sector governor. I have sent requests up the chain of command, but it will take time. Governor Buckley is pushing hard for a Court martial.”

“Court Martial? Admiral, I am not in your chain of command! He can't legally do this.”

Sighing the Admiral replied “ He is the only law that matters in this sector. He can do whatever he wants to.”

“Admiral I don't think I like this new society that you people have created. In the old PPL those in charge were held accountable to the people. We didn’t have dictators who would not follow the rule of law.”

Pacing the room, the Admiral turned to me “ both my legal staff and I believe that this is revenge for his nephew. We will try to help as much as possible but our hands are tied.”

I spent the day reviewing the rules of court martial and POW treatment. I think that the Governor is a bit ignorant of his own law. The Admiral said court martial; their own regulations say they can't do that to a POW. They would have to convene a military tribunal in order to bring accusations of war crimes against me.

I awoke from my sleep, when the ship shuddered.

We were docking.

Rising, I glared at the camera taking care of my morning rituals. I decided to put on a dress uniform. No reason not to look as neat and as military as possible. I gathered my things and prepared to leave.

Station security had sent a full detachment for me.

“Prisoner Lee, stand away from the door!” shouted the large security officer.

I stepped back and resumed standing at attention. The door burst open, two large burly goons grabbed me, and manhandled me out of the cell. I heard cries of “hey, treat her with respect” and “shes not a criminal” coming from Turner and Hooch. Wow, they can speak!

“I have my orders, she is my prisoner now, move out of the way!”

The station security chief was very curt with ships security. His goon squad pushed the shipboard guards out of the way and put me their version of 'irons'. Security bracelets over my wrists, anklets secured with high voltage cables to a belt at my waist. You would think that I was a serial killer or something.

The goons smashed my tablet on the ground and kicked it along with my things into the corner. “You get nothing like this in our cells prisoner” they said.

Sub-vocalizing, I said “ Wilson, make sure you keep copies of all surveillance on me from now on, especially on this station.”

Two of the guards grabbed me and physically carried me out into the corridor. I could hear the shipboard military again protesting my treatment as they escorted me off the ship. At the end of the access way the guards tossed me, literally, into a security transport. I slammed into the transports interior wall, hearing my shoulder pop. I braced myself, this was not going to be fun.

My experience with station security was not memorable. It was dehumanizing and very embarrassing. I was scanned, stripped and searched. Not with a female guard and not gently either. I think my jailers got off on it. They threw a very thin shirt and a pair of shorts at me.

Once dressed I was dragged into a cell and dumped in the middle of the room. The cell was similar to the shipboard one, only not. Just an empty room with a bucket. Delightful. I sat in the corner and tried not to cry.

“Hey, there's no crying in baseball!”

“Wilson, not now. This is really serious. I think these people intend to kill me.”

“Athena, I transmitted video records of everything. What was done to you is NOT procedure. Higher authorities have been informed; I made sure of it.”

When I was younger my father trained me in several of the martial art forms. Everyone in my family was. It was a tradition.

Tai Chi and the meditation that came with it was what has been the most useful to me through the years. It has helped me to stay sane. I sat in the corner of the cell, positioning myself so I could see the door. I meditated while resting.

Soon the door to my cell opened. “Shower time!” yelled the guard.

He then sprayed me with a large high pressure fire hose. The freezing cold water chilled me to the bone. The pressure pounding on my already sore body until I was left, in my now wet clothing lying in a puddle on the floor. That night I did not sleep at all. Prisoner interrogation techniques and torture was used against me. I was almost drowned several times when they water boarded me. The absolute worst was what they called the ‘confinement’. My hands were handcuffed to steel rod that was also attached to my feet. I was unable to sit, walk, or use the ‘bucket’ for hours at a time. It was sheer hell.

Loud noise was piped into my cell every few hours to prevent me from sleeping.

Food was withheld. I ate only the barest of rations. Starvation rations that are reserved for survival packs. The guards performed bed checks every hour on the hour. Sexual threats and much innuendo was made by the guards to me.

Just sheer and utter torture of both the mind and the body.

On what I think was the third day of this ordeal, the guards place another person in my cell.

She looked and dressed like another prisoner. She said her name was Shelly.

I didn't talk to her, thinking, this might be a trap.

Unlike me, “Shelly” was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with boots. She still had some personal items like a necklace and was well fed and healthy.

Very suspicious.

I slept that night with one eye open. Wilson saved my life, again.

While I slept he monitored the room through the station's sensors.

When security shut down the cameras turning off he sensors, he quickly turned them back on and woke me up.

In my head I heard “Athena, wake up! Someone, just tried to make your cell a black hole by turning everything off. Get ready! I think they may try to hurt you.”

Playing dead wasn't too hard to do. Days without sleep and very little food had left me looking like death warmed over anyway.

I heard cloth ruffling across the room and a boot scrape, just before I was attacked by Shelly.

The woman grabbed me and tried to strangle me. My years of martial art training kicked in. I broke the stranglehold she had on me and punched back.

Facing off against me my opponent pulled a shiv out of her jumpsuit. Shit just got real!

“ Can I ask you, why you are trying to kill me?” I said to her, panting.

“No.” she said, “Just a job. You have to die. Its supposed to look like an accident.”

She lunged at me, her shiv at the ready.

I had nowhere to run to, my life was on the line. She missed me as I dodged to the left.

Using my right arm, I blocked the knife lunge and punched her with my left fist. This stunned her for just a moment. I followed up with a hard kick to the groin. She slashed at me some more as we grappled. I got my hand to her face and tried gouging and punching at her.

She slashed my arm and hand deeply. Blood was running down my arm and onto the cell floor. Repeated strikes to her head blinded her for a moment. I used both hands and wrestled the knife away from her. Not waiting and knowing that no help would come, using the knife I struck her several times. Falling, we both crumpled to the floor. Shelly's body lay in the center of the room bleeding out.

Crawling over to her, I left the blood-covered shiv next to her body. Pushing myself up I crawled back to ‘my’ corner. I sat back down now in my usual place. With what was left of my shirt I managed to stop the bleeding in my hand and arms.

A short time later the cell door opened the guard called. “Sergeant Shel, are you ready to come out now? Job all done?”

Silence of the dead.

The guard turned on the lights and came into the room. He saw her body on the floor and ran to it. He turned her over and checked the woman's pulse.

I made a grunting noise.

He turned and noticed me, sitting there still covered in blood, staring at him.

He quickly grabbed the Sergeant's hands and pulled her body from the room, closing the door behind him.

It was another full day before that door opened again.

Chapter 3

The small fleet dropped into sector 12 unannounced.

The HQ traffic controller jumped in surprise when his control board lit up and started beeping. He quickly checked the IFF and saw that the ships belong to the home fleet. Using fleet frequency he hailed the ships.

“This is fleet Admiral Yager on board the EOH ship Falcon. I need docking clearances immediately! ”The Admiral looked really pissed.

This was way, way beyond the traffic controllers pay grade so he sent out the clearances. “Someone is about to have a bad day,” he thought to himself.

The fleet consisted of one of the new battleships, a cruiser, and five destroyers. It certainly looked formidable. As he watched, six armored troop transports left the ships and headed for the Fleet station. Leaving formation the five destroyers began a CAP (constant air patrol) around the inner sector. Protecting an Admiral looked like it was serious business!

Six transports soon docked with the station. A quickly formed honor guard was waiting for them.

Governor Buckley had hastily dressed and was almost late to arrive. Buckley growled at his chief of staff “Why didn't I know the Admiral was coming? Did you not get a notice? You are supposed to be on top of things like this! Why else am I paying you!”

“Sir, the Admiral sent no notice. We received nothing, not a single communique. I have no idea why he is here. There must be something serious going on for him to bring that much firepower with him!”

The transports unsealed and the hatches opened up. Off first was the Admiral's security team. Six very scary troopers in assault gear exited and took up firing positions around the entrance to the ship. At some unknown signal the admiral and his staff exited. Just behind the admiral were two ESS agents.

The ESS were the special police that answered only to the Senate and the Chairman of the Empire.

“Holy Shit, Governor! Why are they here? Whatever this is, it must be a huge threat to the Empire!”

The Governor nodded he looked at his staff telling them “ Whatever these agents need, supply it to them. They answer to the only to the Senate. Give them everything that they need.”

Before the Governor could step forward and greet the party, the agents interrupted him. “Excuse us, Governor?”

Buckley paused in mid step and asked, “yes?”