This Forsaken World

This Forsaken World Chapter 16

This Forsaken World Chapter 16

Commander Devin Crowe

As the door before me opened up I stepped onto the bridge of the A.M.S. Star and shook my head. The sight never failed to take my breath away at the sheer scale of the ships command center.

Spread out in a massive circle with reinforced plastic window panels giving a three hundred and sixty degree view of the surrounding space, the bridge was a marvel of engineering.

Consoles were positioned on a sub deck recessed in the floor so they didn't obscure the view, technicians and operators moving between them or seated at designated zones. Along the window's edge were turret controls where weapon officers would operate the numerous ballistic emplacements along the ships hull.

Seated on deck level in the very center of the bridge was the Command Officers chair, Captain Connors seated cross-legged reading a report. There were controls built into the chair for relaying instructions to the various stations or to override and authorize certain commands.

I made my way past the two S.C.A.R. Soldiers guarding the door and snapped to attention behind the Captain.

"Ma'am, Commander Crowe reporting as ordered." I gave the woman a crisp salute and waited for a reply.

Spinning in place the Captain stood up and returned the salute, waving a hand dismissively to give me clearance to relax.

"What do you have to report about the pilot we captured?" She asked, resuming her seat once more and watching me carefully as I stood at ease with my arms behind me.

"Well apparently the fact I defeated her in battle makes her my slave. She's quite adamant about that." Connor laughed before she realized I was serious.

"Wow, what did you say?" She asked, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.

"Um, I told her it was your choice not mine. She gave me a history on her species and explained there plans. I'll fill out a report with all of the details for you." I watched the Captain carefully to see how she would respond.

Leaning back in her seat, the woman smiled. "Well does she provide a security risk? She might be gathering information to escape with and return to her fleet."

I shook my head. "I don't believe so. She's been very cooperative. She's had every opportunity to escape, she could have killed at least a dozen staff and she has asked nothing about the fleet that might be strategically useful. I honestly believe she is intent on honoring this slave thing. I know we don't condone slavery but she is a wealth of information. Perhaps we could keep her under surveillance in a more comfortable quarters and keep fishing for anything we can use to fight back?"

The captain pondered this for a moment before she came to a decision. "Right, have her moved to a quarters on Deck 2, I'm sure since the majority of our crew didn't make it off the surface we have plenty of room so pick an isolated room away from the others. Assign a detail of six heavily armed guards on rotation to keep an eye on her." The Captain examined a flashing button on her console.

"Eh, Ma'am that might be problematic. I believe she'll cause a lot of problems if we leave her on her own. My quarters are isolated on Deck 4 at the end of a hallway, perhaps I could keep her there where I can keep an eye on her? That would also make her more cooperative since she'll get used to me and possibly divulge more information." I breathed in deeply.

The idea was risky and probably sounded a little sketchy to the Captain but it was the most reasonable solution and I truly believed I could get more out of her that way. Another reason I thought this was a good idea is she might hurt more MP's if they gave her trouble.