The Treos Dilemma

By William Lavell

“This doesn’t end for me until Jade Ryan is here. On this ship. With us.”

In the third chapter of the Vindicator series, Jace Ryan and his crew are drawn further into the Company’s long game, and Ryan’s sister Jade has become the latest pawn on the board.

After six months of chasing the elusive Ryan and his crew, Commander Straker and President Aarla are now desperate to capture them. Straker devises a new plan to not only stop Ryan, but give Aarla deniability in the process. He enlists the help of Ryan’s old enemy, Tavion Karr, in order to spring his latest trap.

Ryan meanwhile, is still carrying on a seemingly hopeless search for Jade. He’s frustrated at every turn by misinformation and traps set by bounty hunters, and it’s all beginning to take a toll on his sanity. That’s when Karr contacts Ryan to tell him that he’s out of prison... and holding Jade prisoner! He’s holding her at his base on Treos, the third moon of the planet Bernadea. When Karr threatens to kill her if Ryan doesn’t come to Treos, he sets the stage for the Vindicator crew’s most dangerous adventure yet.

Ryan refuses to give up until he has his sister back. But Karr wants revenge, Straker’s trap is about to close, and to top it all off, Ryan is about to pay a heavy price in the face of a betrayal from the last person he expected...

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Lavell
• Release date: Feb 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781470016593

William Lavell

William Lavell was born and raised in Northern New Jersey. By "day", he works as a supervisor at a transportation company that he's been with for the last 20 years. He's been writing for just as long. He finally saw his first novel, The Augustine Agenda, published in 2010. It has received Honorable Mentions at the 2011 New England Book Festival and the 2012 London Book Festival. He has since followed it up with Escape From Argus, which was published in 2011. His latest novel, The Treos Dilemma, was published in February of 2012. He's currently hard at work on a fourth untitled book in the series, which he hopes to finish by the end of this year. He currently lives in Central New Jersey with his wife, Michele.

Book preview

THE TREOS DILEMMA

Book III of the VINDICATORS series

by William L. Lavell

© 2012 by William L. Lavell

SMASHWORDS EDITION

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced – mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying – without written consent of the author.

Cover Art was produced by William L. Lavell using images

© Chris Harvey that were obtained from www.dreamstime.com with permission.

ISBN – 1470016591

Printed in the United States of America.

First printing - February 2012

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

PROLOGUE

Where am I?

She woke up in an unfamiliar room. The brightness of the lights burned her eyes, and her nose was assaulted by the odors of disinfectant and recycled air. She couldn’t tell what was going on in the space around her at first. All she could make out was a big, bright blur. Slowly, the room started to come into focus. When she could finally see clearly, the sight that met her eyes made her long for the blur again.

As her haze began to clear, she became aware that she was lying on her back, looking up. Then she noticed that her hand was resting on something cold. She tried to move her arm away, but it wouldn’t move. When she looked down, she could see that she was in an examination chair. Her arm wouldn’t move because her wrists were bound to the arms of the chair with thin metal straps.

She’s coming to, she heard a deep, masculine voice say. Prepare the serum.

She reached her hands out as far as the straps would allow, and was surprised when she felt the hem of a medical gown. When she took another look down, she saw her bare legs, which were bound to the chair by her ankles using similar metal straps. The thin cushions of the chair provided no comfort, and their surface was cold against the skin that was left exposed by her short medical gown. She let out a gasp as she realized that the gown was all she was wearing. She could feel the cold air on her bare feet, and she shivered. Her legs jerked involuntarily, causing the unforgiving restraints around her ankles to dig into them.

Her eyes were focusing well now, almost too well. That allowed her to see that there were two men standing over her, looking down as she looked up. The first man she’d never seen before. He was younger, and a bit on the slim side. Judging by the lab coat and scrubs he wore, she figured that he was a Lab Tech. Aside from the fact that his staring was making her uncomfortable, she knew nothing else about him.

The second man, however, needed no introduction. She would have recognized him anywhere. He was older and taller than the first man, and he had a considerably larger build. He was clean-shaven, with a jaw that looked like it was chiseled out of stone. Everything else about him was dark. His piercing eyes, his short-cropped hair, and his military uniform. There was no doubt in her mind that this was Fleet Commander Straker staring down at her with a satisfied smile on his face. She couldn’t be sure if he was just enjoying his triumph, or if he was getting special enjoyment from her predicament. The thought of either possibility sent a chill through her. She decided to occupy her mind with other topics.

Wh- Where...? Where am I? The words finally fell from her lips, but they were slow in coming.

You are in Dagmar Prison. Straker’s voice was as chilly as the room. For the last two days, you have been our special guest.

Her words were coming faster now. What do you want from me?

The commander sneered. Why information, of course.

What are you talking about? she stammered. I don’t know anything.

Oh I’m sure you know plenty, my dear. He leaned in so that his face was almost touching her cheek. You could start by telling me where the Augustine Resistance is hiding.

They’re not hiding, she said angrily. Your men murdered them all.

That’s exactly what Jace Ryan told me before he escaped from us, the commander replied. "Why don’t you tell me where he is?"

She felt his breath on her ear, and it made her shudder involuntarily.

Jace? The mention of his name focused her mind. Escaped?

Of course he had. She knew that if there was anybody in the Augustine camp that could be captured by Commander Straker and get away alive, it was Jace Ryan. She allowed herself to smile at the thought.

I don’t know where he is, she said defiantly. But even if I knew, you’d be the last person I’d tell.

We’ll see about that, the Commander replied. We have something here that may change your mind. He then turned to the man in the lab coat and nodded. You may begin.

The man in the lab coat picked up a large needle and a small vial from his instrument tray. She couldn’t make out the writing on the label, only that it was black and orange. The Lab Tech drew some serum from the vial, and then started towards her with the needle.

Wait, she protested. What are you doing? What is that?

I’m going to inject you with a chemical called Compound 50, the Lab Tech replied with a less than comforting smile. Although you may know it better as Samathine. But don’t worry. This shouldn’t hurt. Much.

No! She struggled against the straps, but they just dug into her skin as they held her fast. What the hell is Samathine?

The Tech none-too-gently jabbed the needle into the side of her neck. Her entire body tensed, and she let out an involuntary whimper as the tech pushed the plunger in and the serum ran into her bloodstream.

No! she repeated. Get away from me!

Straker pushed the Lab Tech aside and grabbed her by the throat. "Now my dear. Sooner or later, you will tell me everything I want to know."

"No!" She struggled against her bonds again, but the attempt didn’t get her any further than her others had.

The serum burned as it passed through her body, from her neck down into her chest. Then she could feel the burn as it passed through her heart and out to her limbs. Not only was it burning inside, but her skin felt like it was on fire too. It was getting harder to remember. Harder to think. Harder to breathe. A hazy darkness was beginning to creep into her mind. She was blacking out, but at the same time, she was still awake. Still aware.

She was struggling frantically now, but her arms and legs were growing heavier and heavier by the moment. For all the effort she was going to, they weren’t moving very far. Then finally, they didn’t move at all.

It was at that moment when she realized that there truly was no escape for her. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t fight. In a final moment of clarity, it occurred to her that there was only one thing left that she could do.

So with all the strength she had left, Jade Ryan screamed.

CHAPTER ONE

Jace Ryan woke up screaming.

It was the fourth time in as many nights that he’d had the same terrifying dream. It was so vivid it was as though he were sitting in the chair being interrogated instead of his sister. It was so vivid he could count the hairs peeking out from underneath Commander Straker’s uniform cap. It was so vivid that it felt real.

But that couldn’t have happened, he thought. That couldn’t have been real. Could it?

He cursed under his breath as he tried to extricate himself from his blanket, which had tangled up in his limbs while he slept. He roughly shoved it down to his knees. It had taken him so much effort to get the blanket down that far that frustration got the better of him. Even as exhausted as he was, he began kicking at it with both feet to get free of it. He allowed himself a small measure of satisfaction when it finally fell off of the bed and landed in a heap on the floor. He sat up, causing a bead of sweat from his brow to fall into his eye. He wiped at his face clumsily to ease the stinging and ran his fingers through his wavy black hair as he tried to clear his mind.

A shiver ran through him as he took notice of the chilly air of the room on his bare back. Leaning over the side of the bed, he found his shirt crumpled up on the floor where he’d dropped it the night before. It was right next to his boots, which were lying right where he’d kicked them off. He gingerly pulled them on, then picked the shirt up and pulled it on over his head. Then he got out of bed and staggered towards the door of his quarters.

He stopped off at the far side of the room, near a set of drawers that was built into the wall. He pulled out the top one, revealing a sink, and turned on the water. He reached in with both hands and splashed some water on his face. His dark eyes searched his face in the small mirror above the sink. He could see how drawn his cheeks were as drops of water fell off of his dark goatee. He looked worn out, but it wasn’t anything a little sleep wouldn’t fix. He decided that a walk around the ship would calm him down – and maybe wear him out – enough to try to sleep again

He stepped back over to the door, and tapped the control panel on the wall beside it. The door slid open with a gentle whoosh. He was about to take a step into the hallway when he was forced to stop abruptly.

His shipmate Mara was standing in the open doorway.

Ryan, are you alright? She thought to him.

She looked as if she’d hurriedly dressed herself as well. Her auburn hair hung loosely about her neck and shoulders, a contrast to the intricate braid she usually wore it in. She was wearing the jumpsuit she normally wore, but in her haste, she’d left the top few buttons open, revealing much more of herself than she usually did. When he caught himself staring into the gap in the material, he forced himself to stop and bring his gaze back up to her soft green eyes. He hoped that he hadn’t been too obvious in his staring. If he had been, Mara didn’t seem to have taken notice.

You had the dream again.

It was a statement rather than a question. There was no need for her to ask him what happened. She already knew. Ever since they’d been hit with that radiation back at the chorian mine on Diablo, they had developed a strange telepathic link. It was strange, at least to him. Before he’d met Mara, he’d had no experience with telepathy whatsoever. But ever since Diablo, telepathy seemed to have become a big part of his life. And he’d apparently shared quite a bit of himself with Mara through their link.

Mara knew things about him without him telling her. They were mostly little things. But they were personal things, things he’d never told anyone before. Things like a song he’d heard that she knew the words to, or a place that he’d been to and she knew the way. He would start telling a story from his past, and she knew how it was going to end before he finished telling it.

At first he saw it as a violation, and more than a little creepy. But as the weeks passed he’d gotten used to feeling her presence in his mind. Now that he was having these damned nightmares, he was actually grateful for it. As soon as he woke up, she seemed to know what had happened to him. From the discomfort on her face, it must have been happening to her too. He found it alarming and yet comforting that she would come and check on him afterwards.

Yeah. He nodded. Yeah I did.

Was this… like the other times? she asked uncomfortably. Did she die this time?

Every time he’d had the dream, she asked him that question first. She would ask because that was usually how the dream ended. Sometimes, he’d shock himself awake before it got that far. But the dream usually ended with her eventual death. Ryan wasn’t sure why she always asked that first, but she seemed to be gauging just how traumatized he was each time.

You could look inside my head and see for yourself, he replied wearily. Why do you even ask me that?

There are two reasons, she replied. First, even though our minds share a connection, I respect your privacy. There are things that we both can learn via casual contact through this link. But I would not take anything that you do not wish to share with me.

Ryan nodded. Fair enough. What’s the other reason?

Mara shrugged. I figured that it might help you to talk about it.

Ryan gave a deep sigh. No.

She looked at him questioningly. You do not want to talk?

N-No, he stammered. No, I mean she didn’t die. But she was in a lot of pain, and I woke up before anything else happened. I got the impression she was about to, though. That’s how the dream usually ends. It just seemed so real. I don’t – I never have visions or premonitions. At least I never have before. So it must have been a dream, right? Although I still don’t know for sure what the hell that radiation on Diablo did to me.

I do not know, she replied. I suppose anything is possible. But Doctor Pryce has scanned both of us, and he does not have an answer, either.

Ryan thought about Pryce scanning his brain. About all the time he’d spent lying on an exam table in Pryce’s medical bay. The doctor had run his hand scanner around his head in all different directions, subjecting Ryan to a constant chorus of ‘Oh’s and ‘Mm-hm’s the whole time. When he’d finally finished, all Pryce could tell him was that there was no cellular damage to his neural tissues. Other than that, he had no more of an idea of what was going on than before