Cassandra's Challenge Read online

  “How the fuck do we get them up?”

  “Do I fucking look like I know?” The Raptor starts to pull away from the growing flames.

  “Victoria listen to me. Remember that game we always play at the park where I you flip around to grab my legs? We’re going to do that now.”

  “NO!”

  “YES, listen to me Victoria, you can do this! Lucas is up there he’s not going to let you fall!!! I promise!!! Here we go! ONE! Cassandra began to swing her arms, “TWO! THREE!” Swinging her up she prays it works.

  In the Raptor the two men stare at each other in disbelief as they hear Cassandra’s plan then Victoria is wrapped around Cassandra’s thighs. Lucas reaches down grabbing her wrist.

  “Come on Tori, I’ve got you, let go of your aunt I’ve got you.” And the same green eyes that he’d seen when he woke in the cabin now stared up trustingly at him as he pulls her into the Raptor. “It’s ok, you’re safe know.”

  “Aunt Cassie!” Lucas looks over at his father.

  With Victoria safe Cassandra needs to get herself inside. The Admiral has managed to pull her up enough so that he can grip her knees with one arm he reaches down with the other.

  “GRAB IT!!” he orders, “I WON’T LET GO!” Cassandra swings herself up gripping his outreached hand with both of hers. Pulling her the rest of the way up into the Raptor he slams the door closed.

  “GO!” He orders as he pulls her down into a seat with him. Cassandra, breathing hard, looks up at him.

  “You’re good at hanging on, thanks.”

  The Admiral stares down at her, “A little more warning next time would be nice.”

  “Let’s hope I won’t have too.”

  “Agreed.” The ship starts heading up.

  “Wait you need to drop us off at the cabin, the rest of our family’s there.” Suddenly an alarm goes off in the cockpit. The Admiral and Lucas exchange glances.

  “What? What is it?” Cassandra demands.

  “Nuclear alarm.” The Admiral tells her.

  “Nuclear….” She whispers

  “Dodge get us out of here!!!!! Get your visors down!!!” The Admiral orders.

  “Victoria!”

  “I’ve got her, she’s ok.” Lucas pulls Victoria’s face into his chest, “Close your eyes honey. Keep them closed until I say so, Ok?” Victoria nods hanging on to Lucas.

  The Admiral does the same with Cassandra. As he ducks his head she brings her hands up shielding his eyes. With the Raptor speeding skyward there is a massive explosion behind them. Riding out the turbulence the Admiral feels this courageous woman’s tears on his hands.

  When the ship stabilizes he eases her away. She quickly wipes her cheeks before turning to find the girl, standing she walks over to Lucas. Looking up the child all but flies into the woman’s arms. When Raptor maneuvers she loses her balance falling back into the Admiral.

  “Sit down before you fall down!” He roughly pushing her into the seat he’d just vacated. Looking at the two for just a second longer he turns his attention to his son.

  “How badly are you hurt?” He moves over to look at the leg.

  “Just a deep gash, Bliant shouldn’t have any trouble with it.”

  “What happened?”

  “Got clipped by a tree on the way down, landed hard.” Lucas nods over to the woman. “She found me unconscious, somehow got me to their home. Fixed me up, helped me back.” Lucas looks up at his father. “I owe her, especially now.”

  “Why?”

  “Their family was down there Dad.”

  The Admiral looks back at the woman trying to console the sobbing child. Her black hair has come loose from its restraint at the back of her neck, partially shielding her face. She’d called the girl her niece, not her child, but her love is apparent. As if hanging upside down outside a Raptor wasn’t enough.

  “We’ll need to get them back on planet as soon as possible. But first we’re getting you to medical.” With the Raptor landing on the flight deck of the Retribution the Admiral opens the hatch. Stepping out he first helps Lucas onto a waiting stretcher. Turning he sees the woman standing in the hatch, protectively holding the child her eyes rapidly scanned the scene before her.

  Having been able to calm Victoria down inside the ship, Cassandra now has to contend with where they’ve landed. People are hustling around what she’d consider a hanger doing unknown jobs. Lucas is being helped onto a stretcher with what appeared to be medical personnel attending him. Her eyes come to rest on the large man Lucas called his father, the Admiral. He takes a step towards her, putting a hand on her elbow helping her out of the Raptor. When she steps down he discovers she barely comes up to his shoulders. Reaching for the child, her eyes harden.

  “No.” Her voice surprising forcefully for someone in a strange new place.

  “You’ll both go to medical with Lucas.”

  “Aunt Cassie…”

  “It’s okay.” Cassandra rubs her back. “We’re fine. Just get us on another one of those things,” Cassandra nods to the Raptor, “and get us back on planet.” The Admiral raises an eyebrow at this small woman’s order.

  “I can’t spare a crew right now. Once this battle is over we’ll get you back. But for now you go to medical.” There is no doubting it is an order this time, The Admiral’s violet eyes clashing with her sapphire ones.

  “Cassandra,” Lucas intervenes, “it’ll just be for a little bit, set Victoria down here.” He moves his uninjured leg making room on the stretcher. “It’s a ways to medical. Bliant’s just going to make sure we haven’t been exposed to any radiation from the blast.”

  Cassandra looks away from the Admiral to Lucas. In a voice hoarse from crying Victoria asks.

  “Aunt Cassie? Where are mom and dad?” The Admiral sees the stricken look that comes into the woman’s eyes, before it’s gone to look down at the child called Victoria.

  “They’re back on Earth, baby.” She tells her, not lying, but unable to say the rest.

  The child’s green eyes stare into Cassandra’s before moving to the Admiral, then Lucas, finally returning to Cassandra.

  “Can I sit next to Lucas?”

  The Admiral sees the indecision in the woman’s eyes. “She’ll be ok.” He tells her in a low voice, as her eyes meet his he can see she’s trying to decide if she can trust him. It stings after her trust on the Raptor. Slowly she walks over to the stretcher putting Victoria down next to Lucas.

  “Get them out of here!” The Admiral orders in a gruff voice then heads to the bridge. He has more important things to do then wonder if some woman trusted him or not.

  Entering medical Cassandra sees it’s not that different then an emergency room on Earth. As they wheel Victoria and Lucas over a man approaches.

  “What’s wrong with you Lieutenant?” Dr. Bliant demands in an impatient voice.

  “A leg gash.” As Lucas is moved over to a different cot Cassandra picks Victoria up. Her eyes widening as she looks around.

  “It’s ok honey.” Cassandra whispers to her. “I’m here.”

  “And who do we have here?” The impatient voice of the large man becomes very soft when speaking to the child.

  “Victoria.” She says in a quiet voice.

  “Hello Victoria,” He holds out his large hand, after a moment and to Cassandra’s amazement Victoria puts hers in it. As they shake hands Bliant says, “Nice to meet you. Are you okay?” He takes in the soot on both their faces.

  “Yes.” Bliant looks at Cassandra.

  “Yes we’re both okay.”

  “Gabor!” A woman turns to the Doctor. “Show these two where they can clean up.”

  Nodding he turns back to Lucas. “Well let’s have a look.” Cassandra and Victoria follow the woman into a smaller room.

  “There’s cleaner here,” She points to a pump, “towels here.” She opens a drawer. If you need anything else let me know.” She exits the room.

  Cassandra puts Victoria down. “Well sweetie, what do th
ink?” Pulling out a small towel she looks at what she thinks is a sink. “So how do you think we get water?”

  Victoria walks up to the sink, looking it over. Turning a dial water starts to flow. Tori gives her aunt a smile that quickly fades.

  “Very nice, let’s get you cleaned up.” Wetting the cloth Cassandra starts on Victoria’s face, cleaning off the soot and tear marks. Working her way down to her hands she finishes. “There good as new.” She smiles at her.

  “You’re still a mess Aunt Cassie.”

  “Well thank you very much young lady.” Looking in the small mirror Cassandra sees Victoria isn’t exaggerating. Her hair is loose and singed; she has soot streaked across her face like an ancient warrior from wiping her tears. “Nice.” Is all she can think, working quickly she does what she can to get clean.

  The wound had effectively been cleaned and sealed. Bliant looks up at Lucas. “You closed this in the field?”

  “No, Cassandra closed it.” Lucas gestures toward the wash room.

  Bliant thinks about the small woman, “She did a good job. I’m going to give you the standard booster but I don’t think you’ll need it. Anything else I need to know?” Bliant looks at Lucas.

  “Like what?”

  “You seemed pretty attached.” Bliant nods towards the washroom.

  Lucas feels his anger rising. “They just saved my life. Oh and the Regulians nuked their family for it, but besides that...”

  “Take it easy, just asking, it’s not regulation to bring in unknowns on board.”

  Lucas doesn’t reply as he sees Cassandra and Victoria approach. Bliant moves on to his next patient, nodding to the two but gives a second look to the woman. There is something about her.

  “Should we get out of here?” Lucas asks limping over to them.

  “How long until we can get back?” Cassandra demands, Lucas motions that they should walk as they talk.

  “Look, the Regulians are still attacking the cities. It’s safer here.” Lucas gives a pointed look to Tori. “Once their gone we’ll get you back. But for now, let’s see if we can find you some food.”

  Leading them to the mess hall Cassandra hears the Admiral’s voice booming out of a room.

  “What the fuck are they doing?”

  Lucas looks down at Victoria seeing she’s heard his father. “That’s the command center.” Cassandra walks towards the hatch. “That’s not the best idea.” Ignoring him she enters the room and is astounded.

  The room is filled with crew, each apparently with a specific duty. There are clear screens showing locations of ships, movements and the Earth. The one the Admiral is swearing at shows the Regulians firing at the Earth’s moon.

  Watching in horror she sees a large chunk of the moon being blown out into space, only to be caught by the Earth’s gravitational pull. Not realizing she’s moved she finds herself at the Admiral’s side.

  “How big is that?” She asks staring at the screen.

  The Admiral’s head whips around. How the hell had she gotten into his command center? Looking up he sees his son at the hatch with a hand on the little girl’s shoulder. He shrugs in apology.

  “What the fuck are you doing here!” The Admiral voice is frozen fury, causing even the Colonel who’s come to his side to cringe. The woman is unfazed.

  “How big?” She asks again, pulling her eyes away from the screen to look into his.

  What he sees confounds him. There is pain, fear, sorrow, anger, knowledge and understanding all flashing at once in her eyes.

  “One-hundred thousand cubics.” He tells her.

  “It will decimate the planet.”

  “Yes. I want all planes back on board! Combat landings! NOW! Falco I want us out of here Warp eight as soon as all planes are accounted for, is that clear!”

  “Yes Admiral!”

  Gripping Cassandra’s arm he removes her from the command center, past Lucas and into the corridor. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” The anger in his voice a living thing.

  “I believe it’s called watch everyone on my planet die.” She interrupts, her voice as dead as Earth will shortly be, killing the Admiral’s anger. He hasn’t known this woman long but the utter lack of emotion in her voice cuts at him.

  “Aunt Cassie?” The sound of the small voice has her closing her eyes for just a second before she looks down at Victoria.

  “Mommy, Daddy and Grandpa are dead, aren’t they.” The pain the Admiral sees in Cassandra’s eyes makes him wish they hadn’t changed.

  Dropping down to her knees Cassandra tells Victoria the truth. “Yes, baby, they are.” She pulls her into her arms.

  Knowing there is nothing he can do, the Admiral turns to his son. “Get them some quarters. They’re going to be with us for awhile.” Walking back into the command center he finds it difficult to put them out of his mind.

  Chapter 2

  Over the next few days Lucas stays close to the two refugees from Earth. He secures them quarters on G Deck, that while small it did have a couch and private bathing facilities. He shows them the mess hall on their deck and supplies them with changes of clothing while trying to explain things to them.

  “Lucas.” Cassandra starts one night after Victoria is asleep. “Don’t think we don’t appreciate what you’ve been doing for us. But why are you?”

  Lucas looks from Cassandra to Victoria. He isn’t about to tell her that there is something about her niece that pulls at him. What he’s thinking isn’t possible. Looking back to Cassandra he says.

  “I think I owe you, both of you.” She just looks at him.

  “As much as I’d like to blame you, this wasn’t your fault. If anything we owe you, we’d be dead too if you hadn’t crashed.”

  “So maybe we’re even.” Lucas gives her a slight smile.

  “Maybe.” But she can’t bring herself to smile back.

  Over the last few days Cassandra’s been trying to figure out what to do. How were they going to adjust, find their way in this new place. Nearly everything they’ve ever learned is irrelevant here. They need knowledge if they are going to survive, especially Victoria.

  “Lucas, you said that Tori isn’t the only child on board. There are families.”

  “Yes.”

  “So what do they do? How do they learn?”

  “They go to class, on E Deck. There’s an educator.”

  “Would Tori be allowed to go?”

  “I don’t see why not.” He’s concerned though. “Don’t you think it’s too soon?”

  “She needs something to focus on. To keep her mind occupied. On Earth she was considered a very intelligent little girl. Here she’ll have to start over, find her way. I need to get her into some kind of routine, she needs as close to normal as I can give her.”

  “Not only Tori.” Lucas looks at her.

  “No not only Tori. Can you look into it for me?”

  “Yeah, I will.”

  Leave their quarters Lucas heads to his father’s. Entering the Admiral’s ready room he finds him sitting at his desk reading reports. Taking a seat he waits.

  Finishing the report the Admiral leans back to look at his son. While he seems to be recovering from his injuries, he still isn’t back on the flight schedule.

  “What’s up?”

  “What do I need to do to get Victoria into class?”

  “Victoria?”

  “The little girl from Earth.” Lucas says impatiently.

  “I know who she is Lucas.” The Admiral replies in the same tone. “Why would you think she could handle our classes?”

  “I don’t know if she can but Cassie does. She wants to get her into some kind of routine.”

  “And she thinks throwing her into something she isn’t going to understand will help?”

  “She says by Earth standards Victoria’s considered very intelligent.” Lucas holds up a hand to stop his father. “I know, but they have been adjusting very quickly, understanding differences. That our languages ar
e similar, as unusual as that is, seems to be helping.” Lucas looks at his father. “She’s going to have to learn it eventually.”

  “You seem to have gotten pretty involved.” William watches his son. The woman named Cassandra keeps intruding in his mind at odd times. Knowing his son is spending time with her irritates him.

  “I’m just trying to help make it right Dad.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “That’s what Cassie says too.”

  “What?” William can’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

  “She said I don’t owe them anything, that if anything they owe me. If I hadn’t crashed they’d be dead too.” The Admiral is silent, the thought bothering him for some reason. “They helped me when I needed it, now I need to help them.”

  “Have her at the classroom tomorrow. I’ll arrange it with the educator.”

  “Thanks dad.” Lucas gets up to leave. “Did you ever find out why the Regulians destroyed the planet?”

  “No.”

  “Are you sure I can do this Aunt Cassie?” Victoria asks before they leave their quarters.

  “Of course I’m sure. You’re not going to know or understand everything right away. It’s going to take some time but after awhile you’ll get it.” Victoria looks up at Cassandra with trusting eyes.

  “Okay.”

  “And besides, we’re Chamberlain women aren’t we?” Cassandra puts her fist out for a bump, Tori gives her one.

  “Yes.” Opening the hatch they find Lucas about to knock.

  “Ready to go?” He looks at them.

  “Yes.” They say in unison.

  Approaching the classroom Cassandra sees the Admiral coming out of the room, followed by an attractive woman.

  “Hello Victoria,” The woman says as if she’s talking to a slow child, Cassandra frowns. “I’m Madam Reese, your educator.” Victoria stares at the woman.

  “Hello Madam Reese, I’m Victoria Chamberlain.”

  Cassandra step forward, “I’m Cassandra Chamberlain, Tori’s Aunt.” She holds out her hand. The woman looks at the Admiral then shakes Cassandra’s hand.