Fan Fiction ❯ Star-Crossed ❯ Strange Cargo, part 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: This fic belongs to Happyberry, please do not distribute without consent.

 

 

Star Crossed, Chapter 1

 

“Bloody hell!” cursed a tall, brooding man at the entrance of the small cargo terminal on Delta Sel. The imposing raven-haired man had just learned of the contents of his latest shipment, and he was not happy. His long, sleek ponytail trailed behind him as he paced.

 

“I don't move LIVE cargo! Everyone knows my policies! I don't understand what's going on here!” he ranted, making his two crew members before him squirm uncomfortably.

 

Aud, a boy who looked to have just crossed the threshold of his adolescence, held up a piece of sheet film. “Captain Bredhe,” he ventured, “you did sign the contract.”

 

Bredhe snapped the film from the young man's hand and quickly scanned it.

 

“Shit.”

 

The crew members shared a knowing glance between them. As dedicated as they were to their Captain, they were also well aware of his quirks- his temper being one of them. But the man's anger faded as quickly as it came, and now Bredhe was looking intently at the fine print of the detailed form.

 

It was something he had signed over a year ago, at a time when a conflict had been brewing between several members of the Interstellar Trade Board and work had been scarce. The agreement had been made through a sub-contractor, something the Captain hadn't done before or since, but the money had been worth it. He had been paid the equivalent to nearly half a year's salary and most of it in advance. Of course, Bredhe had been skeptical of the offer, which left the cargo unspecified, but, as the contract had also been sent through the proper censors and licenses requirements, he had accepted it.

 

Just how anyone could get the Board's approval to transfer prisoners off-planet through a private transport was beyond him. It left him with a bad taste in his mouth and an unfamiliar scowl to his otherwise handsome features.

 

The party behind the contract had to be someone of considerable power and influence. There was only one person Bredhe could think of that had that kind of clout and he prayed to the Divine Sky he was wrong. He was almost afraid to ask his crew the destination of their drop-off, fearing that it would confirm his suspicions.

 

Cocking an eyebrow at Aud, the youngest member of the crew, but a talented navigator for his lack of years, he asked him warily, “Where are we to take this cargo anyway?”

 

“It's…” Aud hesitated and Bredhe narrowed his gaze until he finally announced, “Amobe.”

 

Next to him the other crew member, Daq, a man nearly as tall as Bredhe and far more broad-shouldered, gave the boy a reassuring pat on the back when the Captain heaved a sigh and stalked back up to the ship, turning his back on them. The muscular mechanic had been in Bredhe's service far longer than Aud and was much better at dealing with the man.

 

“He'll calm down, don't worry, he just doesn't like surprises,” Daq explained. “Especially when they deal with Amobe and the Regent General stationed there,” he added.

 

Aud, his pale lavender eyes looking up entreatingly, asked, “Then why did he sign the contract in the first place?”

 

The mechanic took a moment before answering him, his thoughts briefly disturbed by the piercing gaze of the slender young man so close to him. The navigator hadn't been with them long, but it had been long enough for Daq to develop an unyielding and, as he saw it, inappropriate sexual attraction to the youth.

 

“It was a difficult time then if you remember, the Board had put a temporary restriction on a lot of shipments and the Captain decided the money was worth the risk. Besides, I've never heard of transferring prisoners under a cargo license, he couldn't possibly have foreseen such a circumstance arising- he probably thought the shipment would just end up being some kind of hazardous material, which we would've been prepared for.”

 

Though Aud still looked upset, he was somewhat placated by the older man's words. He was always amazed at the mechanics intelligent, fluid speech, since his bronzed and toned physique usually caused people to assume the man was dim-witted. Even more comforting than his words, however, was Daq's warm hand still placed lightly on his upper back.

 

“Come on,” Daq finally said, “Let's go look into this `cargo' while the Captain cools off.”

 

Meanwhile, Bredhe was sitting at the bridge of his ship, debating the merits of making a direct call to Amobe's Regent right now to try and find out the man's motives behind this odd `shipment'. He wanted answers and he wanted them now, but he was loath to see that face on the telecom. Even now he could picture the rich silver stare and frosty white locks that had enchanted so many. Bredhe would never deny that the Amobian was beautiful, but his own experiences with the man had tainted his view of his personality. Sorrel was selfish, egotistical, and manipulative to a dangerous degree. For years Bredhe had been able to avoid any contact with the powerful political mover and he had thought the man had all but forgotten him. Now he knew that the Regent had been watching him all along, waiting for the right opportunity to pull him back into his web. Bredhe wondered who these prisoners were. Normally, the Captain would have had all the details of his shipments upfront, but the subcontract he signed had been extremely vague. Bloody hell, he thought to himself, he'd known it was a mistake to agree to that contract the moment he'd signed it, but at the time it had seemed like a blessing. It had appeared precisely at the moment when Bredhe had been at his most desperate. His mind pondered how calculated the offer must have been, now that he knew Sorrel was behind it. Would he ever be free of the Regent constantly looking over his shoulder?

 

As if by a sick twist of fate, the telecom chose that moment to buzz, and Bredhe saw the screen flash the identity of the caller- none other than the Regent General himself. Steeling himself for an encounter he had hoped to put off for until the Seven Hells had crumbled to dust, he straightened his back and flipped open the telecom switch.

 

Immediately the enormous, wide screen was filled with the image of a regal man with silver-white hair cascading about his flawless features as he sat on a high black throne, wispy black cloth draped about his lean figure as he glowed with obvious satisfaction at Bredhe who, rumbled and anxious, shifted in his Captain's chair.

 

“Bree,” Sorrel said casually, in his rich vibrato. “It's been far too long.”

 

“Don't address me as Bree! Only my friends call me that and you're not among them.”

 

“Now Sorrel,” the Captain continued, deliberately addressing the powerful man in an equally casual manner, “I wonder if you might tell me to what I owe this pleasure?” The sarcasm in his voice was thick.

 

“Just checking to see that the shipment is going smoothly. I gather that you've received my cargo?”

 

“Yes, indeed,” he replied, seething inside, “ and I'm curious to know just why the hell you felt the need to drag me into this little fiasco, the authorities will have my hide if they find out I'm transferring convicted criminals without the proper permits.”

 

“I think not,” Sorrel said off-handedly. Apparently such details gave him little concern.

 

“Besides,” he added, his rosy lips curling up in the corners to reveal the smug delight he took in Bredhe's growing agitation, “I have faith that you know how to handle such a `sensitive' shipment, that's why I requested your services.”

 

“Actually, you had a subcontractor make the request, didn't you? Why didn't you have the guts to ask me yourself?”

 

“Does it matter?” Sorrel asked nonchalantly, in a tone that indicated he had always gotten what he wanted, regardless of the means.

 

“Yes! You knew I would never willingly make a contract with you.”

 

“Now you just answered your own question, didn't you?”

 

Bredhe scowled.

 

“If you weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have had to resort to such deceitful measures.”

 

“Maybe I wouldn't be so stubborn if I knew you could be trusted,” the Captain replied with heat. Hells Below, this man knew how to get under his skin! “I'm sure you have some hidden agenda with this delivery and I'm letting you know right now that I don't care what it is- I'll ship this `cargo' of yours and that will be the end of it. If you try to contact me after this, I swear I'll find a way to bring charges against you!”

 

Sorrel continued to grin impassively, amused by the other man's indignation. “I forgot how cute you are when you're angry,” he said with a wink.

 

Bredhe, without further word, closed the channel. It's just a job, he told himself. Don't let him get to you.

 

But this was not as easy as it sounded. Sighing, he rubbed his temples. As much as he loved space travel, it had been a long time since he'd been planetbound for any length of time and he was beginning to feel as if he needed it. But not now, now he had a job to do.

 

He heard the sounds of his crew and their `cargo' making their way up the bridge and he rose from his seat. Although he had told Sorrel that the man's hidden agenda didn't matter to him, he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he stepped down to the bridge.

 

Abruptly, he stopped, an icy wave shooting painfully down his spine.

 

It was very rare for Bree to ever experience the premonitions that many of his people did, but when it happened it almost always forewarned him of a life-altering event. The last time it had happened was just before Sorrel solicited his services when Bredhe was a young pilot raising funds for his own ship. It disturbed him to think that the man would be tied to another prominent turn in the fate of his life, but there it was.

 

For a moment the familiar vertigo hit him, then he felt as if his spirit had been violently ripped from his physical body. He gasped for air, but he no longer had lungs from which to breathe. Looking about him, all he could see far and wide was a rosy-pink sky. It glowed with an ethereal beauty, and yet somehow Bredhe knew that the peace of the skies was not reflected in the situation on the earth below it. His heart lurched with an excruciating sorrow that threatened to brand itself permanently onto his soul. Never in his life had he felt a vision as strong as this, nor as urgent. Then, just as suddenly, he was shoved back into his body, only to discover that he was doubled-over on the floor.

 

“Captain! Captain! Are you alright?”

 

His eyes stinging, Bredhe looked up at the blurry face of his mechanic.

 

“Daq, what's wrong with him?” came Aud's anxious voice.

 

“I- I'm fine,” Bredhe assured, rather unconvincingly, since his voice was faint and raspy. With effort, and some help from Daq, he stood and suddenly found himself staring into the most unearthly beautiful face he had ever encountered in all his days of interstellar travel.