The Maiden Voyage - Part 14
Life In The 31st Century - The Misadventures of Derek Dark, Intergalactic Courier.
Welcome to part fourteen, just in time…
The saga of Derek Darke is being serialised every Sci-Friday but if you’d rather skip ahead and get the entire story (and my deep gratitude) direct to your reading app of choice over at https://books2read.com/themaidenvoyage for as little as $2.99 / £1.99. It’s now also available as an audiobook for those of you who like that kind of thing from the Google Play store.
Want to start reading from the beginning? Head over to the story index page which can be found at
The Resolution
Louie punched the air. “Yes, the Cavalry has finally arrived.”
“Captain Derek, P. Darke of the Unizon delivery vehicle Rust Bucket, this is Commodore Tramiel of the GalCorp Peace Vessel Cavalry.”
“Greetings Commodore. This is Captain Darke, glad to hear a friendly voice.” I winked at Maiden, “it’s going to be okay, the good guys are here.”
Maiden looked across at me, “you did this? You had all these people come to help me?” I could see her eyes widen in surprise and I thought she might burst into tears.
“Not just for you,” I said. “Apparently, there were also some bad guys that also needed to be taught a lesson.” I ignored the sigh that came from Louie’s direction.
The comms unit squeaked again. “Captain Darke, the Cavalry is standing ready. Do you need assistance?”
I stood up and straightened my flight jacket. “Thank you Commodore, a lift home would be nice, but other than that. The Rust Bucket is intact, all souls safe and accounted for.”
“Glad to hear it Captain, we got a little worried when the gate went offline.”
“It was all part of the plan,” I lied. “We suspected Su’nak would try to spring a trap and so we had a trick or two up our exhaust ports just in case.” I winked at Louie. He just sat in his chair with his head in his hands.
The Commodore continued. “We stopped the SRF fighters before they could destroy all the stability rings. But I have to tell you, the tech boys got the shock of their lives when the gate suddenly reopened on its own.”
“Ah yes, Commodore. The massive power surge. It’s an old smugglers’ trick, I believe.”
“Well, it was certainly impressive, and we managed to complete our transit before the gate closed again.”
“Glad to be of service Commodore, you’ll also notice —.”
“That’s enough bullshizzing Derek,” Louie said as he quickly muted the comms, “now please, sit down and shut up before your head gets too big to fit on the bridge.”
Louie glared at me and I sat down.
“Commodore Tramiel, this is Commander Pizola. Can I get a status update, please?”
The Commodore’s reply seemed a little sheepish, although that might have been the comms unit.
“Of course Commander. We have a tech team working on re-establishing main power to the gate now. We expect it to be back online within five units.”
“And what about the SRF cruiser? It looks like it’s dead in the void,” Louie asked.
“I can’t believe that force missile worked so well,” I said.
“I’ll admit it was an effective tactic,” Louie said. “Risky but effective.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, trying not to sound too smug.
“I’m sure GalCorp will be pleased to see the results of their latest experimental tech.” Louie added, “I’ll be sure to include the results in my report.”
“Wait, what do you mean, experimental? You never told me that.”
“You never asked. Now please keep quiet, the grown-ups are talking.”
“Commander, we have attempted to establish communications with the cruiser. But they are not responding to hails and under Common Galactic law we can’t claim salvage rights as there are life signs aboard. We have, however, notified Shak high command and they are arranging their own recovery operation. They are scheduled to arrive within the sol.”
“Then I suggest we make haste in our departure. I don’t want to be here when they arrive.” Louie said.
“Wait a tick, Commodore,” I said. “Aren’t you all forgetting something? What about the Haze and the trafficking operations?”.
“I’m sorry, Captain Darke. I don’t know what you’re talking about. However, I would request that you turn over control of your ship immediately to your first officer, Commander Pizola, who’ll then arrange for its safe return to its currently registered owners as you appear to be harbouring a known GalCorp fugitive. This is The Cavalry, out.”
Louie unbuckled himself from his seat, hopped down, and formally addressed our recent addition. “Are you the member of the Cerulean diplomatic envoy known as Maiden?”
Maiden bit her bottom lip and sighed. Her eyelashes fluttered briefly before flattening as if resigning herself to what was about to happen next. “I am,” she replied.
“Wait Louie, what’s going on?”
“My name is Commander Louie Pizola and under article five, subsection epsilon nine of the GalCorp Shak accord, I’m arresting you on suspicion of drug smuggling…”
“Louie, what the frack?” I said, jumping back up.
He ignored me, “…incitement to traffic, intention to partake in slavery, and last but not least, the murder of the duly appointed Cerulean ambassador to Shak.”
“You can’t do this.”
“Sit back down Derek, this is GalCorp business now.”
“No fracking way.” I took a step forward and stood in front of Maiden. There was no way I was going to let Louie get away with this.
Maiden put her hand on my shoulder. “Derek, it’s fine. Please, I knew this was coming.”
“But, no. I just got you back.”
“I can’t escape my destiny,” she said, looking at me for a moment before facing Louie. “Commander Pizola, I am guilty as charged and for the record, I would like to state that Mr Darke is totally innocent in all of this. I coerced him into helping me. He had no idea what was going on until it was too late and then he risked his life to help save me.”
“Nope, this aint happening, not this sol, not on my watch!” I shouted. “Angel cut comms, plot a course away from here. Maiden, go hide in the lifeboat, I’ll stall them, Louie, I’ll ….”
“Angel, engage protocol 66 and belay those commands.”
Orders belayed. Commander Pizola, you have command
“Angel, seal the bridge. Derek, sit down. No one’s going anywhere.”
Affirmative Commander, bridge access restricted
I just stood there for a tick with my mouth open as I realised how much I’d been duped. “Louie you—”
“Derek, don’t say it. Don’t say one more word. Now listen to me — this is going to happen and nothing you can do is going to change that.”
Maiden placed a hand on my chest “Derek, it’s ok, please, don’t make things any worse.”
“She’s right Derek. We don’t want to be here when the rest of the SRF arrives, so just do as you’re told and let’s go. I promise that Maiden will get a fair trial.”
“Frack!” Deep down, I know Louie was right, but this felt wrong. Storming away from the console, I went to the observation post in the far corner and punched the bulkhead as hard as I could before sinking into a heap on the floor.
“Derek!” Maiden looked at me and I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. Or maybe they were mine. It was hard to tell, “I’m sorry.”
“Leave me alone, both of you, just leave me the frack alone.”
“Angel, initiate the auto pilot and plot an approach to hangar bay six.”
Aye aye Commander
Thanks for reading, part 15 will be out next Friday. I’ve also updated the index page if you’ve missed parts 1-13. (Life In The 31st Century Index Page).
If you can’t wait to see what happens next then you can get immediate access to this ebook (and now also in Audio) from your favourite ebook retailer of choice over at https://books2read.com/themaidenvoyage for as little as $2.99 / £1.99. Alternatively please consider subscribing to my publication to get notified when each new episode drops.
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