Fugitives

By J W Murison

This is probably my favourite of the series so far. We left Steven and his ship dying, hidden away on a hostile planet and the crew at the mercy of an Alien Princess. Stuck in the middle of imperial space, they face some hard choices and a long lonely road home. The choices that Charlie makes can either make or break their attempt at escape. Home on Earth tension rises as the crews go weeks then months without any communication. In the Federation, The Grand Commander is becoming frantic with the loss of his new ship designer while Jean Wilson finds herself on the bridge of a new fleet carrier. To her horror, she discovers that it has been designed by the man whose heart she broke just months before. The struggle for survival and to get home takes many turns and twists. The Empire has technology capable of detecting the ships even when cloaked and vast resources at its disposal. When a data mining expert and a crew of trained assassins are put on their trail, their chances of surviving become slimmer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J W Murison
• Release date: Jun 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005218355

J W Murison

I was born in the cottage hospital of Fyvie in Aberdeenshire in 1961. I grew up on various farms in Aberdeenshire until I was eleven and then our family moved to Morayshire. I did not enjoy High School there. I was frequently belted for not being able to do my homework or producing illegible work most teachers couldn’t read or couldn’t be bothered trying to read. As a result of this, I was often shoved into special needs classes where the teacher taught nothing but religion. At the age of fifteen, a month before my sixteenth birthday I joined the British Army. I remember the recruiting sergeant coming out laughing with my test results in his hands and telling me I could not get a trade in the army as my test results were too low. I didn’t care, I wanted to run up and down hills with a gun and blow shit up. Thankfully I was bright enough for that and I joined the infantry. I served a total of seven years under the colours, from the jungles of Central America to the streets of Northern Ireland. My home and family were the men of the 1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders.When I left the Army I found getting a job extremely difficult at first. My first job was driving a chippy van and my first full-time job was at ICI Powfoot where I made gunpowder. From there I have had many jobs. I have worked in building sites and on the roads. In peat bogs and kitchens washing dishes. I have waited tables and driven furniture removal vans. Picked fruit and vegetables in season and driven Taxis. In essence, I could and would turn my hand to whatever put food on the table and kept a roof over my head.At the age of twenty-five and having been a year unemployed I reached one of the major milestones in my life. Disillusioned and getting desperate I was persuaded to try a part-time course at the college. Of course, I had to pick the one thing that scared me the most, computers. It was to my great surprise that not only was I able to complete the course but I enjoyed it as well. So I signed up for a full year. For the first time in my life, I found that I could communicate with people on the same level. It was a revelation. It was then I began to suspect for the first time that I wasn’t as stupid as I had been led to believe throughout my life to that point. However, the winds of fate picked me up and blew me away before I could take it any farther and it was another twenty-five years before I would return to pick up where I had left off.This of course doesn’t explain my preoccupation with books. The only thing I found I could do really well as a youngster was read. Now as you may suspect by now I have learning difficulties. In fact, I am registered as disabled with learning difficulties. I am dyslexic, have dyscalculia and a few other associated problems. I know some might be frowning right now as many dyslexics have problems reading. I was told when I was assessed that I have a rare form of dyslexia where my reading abilities are probably above the norm; however, my ability to write legibly, grammar, punctuation and numeracy skills are well below average. This of course is reflected in my writing. At first, I had to get friends to edit all of my work. Even then many errors slip past and were often commented on. Once I began to make some money from my novels, I turned to professional proofreaders. The first book I had edited by a professional proofreader was Teardrops in the Night Sky. Now all of the Steven Gordon series has been proofread, and most of my later novels as well. The simple cost of proofreading is the one thing that stops me from doing it with all of my novels. Having a very poor education with few qualifications has always kept me on the breadline where work and pay is concerned. So it’s going to be a little while longer before I actually make any money from my books as the royalties from them will go straight towards having the next one proofread. All of the novels on Smashwords have been proofread by a professional.Some may ask, why not go to a publishing house? Yeah okay, that’s a fair question but I don’t think I'm ready yet. Too many people trying to do the same thing all at the same time. I also don’t like the idea of being told what to write as has happened to many writers I know who are with publishing houses. There are far too many people following the formula for success rather than writing what they love or what they want to write. Publishing houses also follow the trend to keep the money rolling in. I don’t actually care a damn about any of that; I swap genre like my wife swaps outfits getting ready for a day out. To date, I have written Romance, Science Fiction, War and Science Fiction Fantasy Adventures. My short stories also include Horror, Children’s stories and Drama. None of this takes into account my poetry either. I don’t have to write a short synopsis or seek approval from editors either. I just write what the hell I like, when I like. Is it the right or wrong thing to do? I suppose in the end it is just a matter of opinion. For me, it is the right thing. To become a literary giant or a best selling author, then it is probably by far the wrong thing to do.I can see in my mind's eye a few shaking their head and wondering what the hell I’m all about. For me, it’s all about fun. I love the exploration of the mind. Whether my characters are in a romantic bind in some blistering desert or being chased across the universe by the bad guys, I don’t care, I just love the journey. Maybe that is the point of my writing across so many genres. I think to only write in one genre would crush me eventually, I am not the kind of person you can kick into a pigeonhole and leave there. I want to have a wee keek at what's around the corner, climb into the next hole over; have a root about and then move on. Of late I have discovered that some of my readers have also decided to join me on the journey. As I have moved from pigeonhole to pigeonhole, a brave few have begun to follow. It is such a buzz when a reader who normally only reads Romance novels, tells you she read your brutal alien invasion novel and loved it.My books are about the characters, it is they who tell the story. I think it is that character development that helps my readers cross the boundaries with me. I am sometimes surprised by how invested some of my readers become in the characters I write about. Not only surprised but delighted. For seventeen years I sat and scribbled away in A5 jotters or banged away on an old laptop that only had a few hours of battery life. Every now and then I would take an old book out of the cupboard and read it, then shove it away for a few years. Only a select few were privy to those novels and they could never understand why I never sent them to a publisher. I knew there was little hope of a mainstream publisher taking me on, especially considering the extra work my disabilities would bring. So I sat on them for seventeen years; until about seven years ago, when I began another book and stopped to ask myself a question. What the hell was I doing? So with the help of a friend I had a wee website built, but it was a bit of a flop as no one knew me and no one wanted to buy a book from a complete unknown. It was suggested that I put my books on Amazon. I put them on Kindle and was immediately slated for my grammar etc. That discouraged me for a while but then my friends and family began to step into the breach and helped me edit them. The remarks about my grammar and misuse of words have dropped considerably now and more and more people are taking the journey with me.I sincerely hope you have enjoyed reading this and it puts some perspective on myself and my writing. To date, only one of my books is available to order from your local books store or library and that is “Teardrops In The Night Sky”. It is the most popular of my novels and is a simple adventure story that crosses many boundaries. Teenagers to pensioners have written and told me of their delight at reading this novel. For the older generation, it is the type of adventure without foul language and all the heavy sex scenes most modern novels contain. For them, it’s a step back in time to the kind of pure adventure they were brought up with. For the young, it’s something new to explore. It just so happens it's also my mothers favourite novel. Of course, now it has been professionally proofread I am going to have to give her a fresh novel. The rest of my books are all available on Amazon as is Teardrops; in Kindle, paperback and hardback format.J W Murison

Book preview

chapter 1

Steven fought the bonds that held him. He could not breathe, his chest wouldn’t move, panic overwhelmed the voices that tried to reach him. As his consciousness slipped away, he thought he was dying. Three times his mind returned to awareness before he was able to open his eyes and breath properly. His eyes flicked open to find a very pissed off Komoru and every doctor the two ships could muster standing over him.

‘Uh… hello?’

Komoru shook her head. ‘Babes is dying, you need to reboot her whole system and you need to do it now.’

Adrenaline flushed his skin. ‘How do I do that?’

‘Listen to Ico.’

Ico quickly guided him through the manual boot-up commands. When Steven opened his eyes again, most of the medical personnel had dispersed. Komoru was sitting now, her arms folded and a leg kicking idly. The scowl that had been on her face when he opened his eyes was still there.

‘What is going on?’

‘Let’s see. We have been stuck on this god-forsaken planet for a whole day, waiting for Ico to repair you so you could repair Babes. The only problem was, every time we tried to wake you up, you panicked. You wouldn’t listen to Ico.’

‘I remember the feeling of drowning…’

‘You were within Ico’s floor, of course you couldn’t breathe. You didn’t need to; he was doing it for you. Didn’t you hear his voice?’

‘Not really, no.’

She sighed. ‘We tried to wake you twelve hours ago, so you could reboot Babes. Her efficiency has been reduced to thirty percent. Most of her crew are aboard Ico now.’

‘What happened?’

‘It would seem our new friends aren’t quite as friendly as we thought they were. They deliberately murdered the ambassador that was previously sent to them, so they could then request us.’

‘Why?’

‘You really aren’t with it yet are you? Snap out of it Steven, we need you on your feet and sharp.’

Steven took a deep breath, ‘You mean they are after the same thing as everyone else.’

‘Of course! The nano technology, beam technology, everything. They directed a beam at both you and Babes that slowly killed the nanites in your systems. Both at the same time.’

‘So, we were both unaware of something happening.’

‘All of us were. It wasn’t a high yield beam that could be detected as an assault. It was something that neither ship had seen before, on a very low frequency. The ship responsible was hidden within the fleet.’

‘How did we get out of it?’

A wan smile crossed her face. ‘Charlie,’ she answered. Steven shook his head to indicate he didn’t fully understand. ‘Charlie noticed the crew begin to act strangely. All of your crew were influenced by this beam. As Babes went down, she took them with her. Charlie was shielded by his own systems.’

Steven frowned, ‘He was doing something… that carrier, right!’

‘They were working on the schematics of it. It was when Lewis began to act strangely that he realised something was wrong. Then Charlie did what Charlie does.’

‘He got us out of the shit again.’

‘Yes, but now we are fugitives, a very long way from home.’

‘So, what do we do now?’

‘We have been waiting for you to wake up so you can tell us just that.’

Steven’s head lifted. ‘Babes is returning to consciousness. Are we safe?’

‘For the moment. We also have other problems.’

‘Before we can do anything, we need Babes back to full health. I am being told that will take at least another day.’

‘Yes, and you too.’

‘Alright, let’s go over everything from the beginning. Gather the staff, I want to hear everyone’s opinions, if they have all fully recovered.’

‘Ico saw to their needs and a good night’s sleep has put them all back on their feet. They are ready to go to work.’

‘Then let’s get to it.’

chapter 2

Steven climbed into the bubble. It was pitch black; he could see nothing outside the ship. He could just make out Charlie from the light below, but even he disappeared when the hatch closed.

‘What are you doing Charlie?’

‘I’m on physical watch dipshit.’

‘Oh, you can see! I can’t even see you.’

‘Close your eyes, I will try a direct transfer through Babes.’

‘I don’t think she is capable yet. Oh wow!’

Charlie laughed, ‘Amazing, isn’t it?’

Steven sat back, mesmerized by the beauty that surrounded him. Outside the ship a wild storm screamed past the entrance to the huge cave they were hiding in. The rubbing of the sand particles caused all kinds of electrical discharges. He detected movement, then a strange creature came into sight.

‘What the hell is that?’

‘I call it a sand dragon.’

‘It does look like a dragon.’

‘Aye, and it’s really big. It knows we are here. It blasted the ships with some kind of electrical discharge. It did no harm though.’

‘What’s it doing now?’

‘It’s gonna go to sleep for about four hours.’

‘You been here that long?’

‘I’m the only one who can see what’s happening out there. We are running quiet.’

‘Like an old-fashioned submarine sitting on the bottom of the sea.’

‘That’s the one Stevie me boy.’

Steven sighed, ‘How did you deal with being stuck between the ship’s decks?’

Charlie thought it over for a moment. ‘I kinda liked it.’

‘I panicked. We could have been out of here by now.’

‘Don’t sweat it. You only fell unconscious. I thought I was dead and being reborn or something.’

‘How so?’

‘I was warm, blind, couldn’t see, and could hear all these muffled voices.’

‘Like you were in a womb or something.’

‘Just like that. I knew I was dying and had accepted it.’

‘Wow, that must have been surreal.’

‘It was a bit.’

‘I missed you at the briefing.’

‘What do you need me for?’

‘You saved our asses again Charlie. Don’t you think you deserve to be there?’

‘Never thought about it, and to be quite frank, you can ram it. I don’t need the responsibility. Having special abilities doesn’t make me smarter than the guys out there, it just gives me an advantage.’

‘Well everyone thinks you should have a more active role in the command decisions around here. That includes Komoru.’

Charlie shook his head in the darkness, ‘I already gave you my response. Not interested.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I already have too much on my plate.’

Steven sat quietly for a while. ‘We can’t decide what to do.’

‘We go home, or we go back to Federation space. Where’s the problem?’

‘Supplies. Federation space would be quicker. Home would take us an extra two months, but we don’t have the supplies for either.’

‘We have beam and stealth technology, where is the problem?’

‘We aren’t stealing anything Charlie.’

‘We can leave gold.’

‘Which can be traced back to us. Remember, you told me about the security guard that took the samples of gold when we went shopping that time. Stealing enough food for a long journey would grab us exactly the same attention. It isn’t like we can just go and buy it.’

‘Why can’t we? We have the little princess. She could buy it.’

‘But she has never bought basic supplies like we need before, it would attract attention. And we can’t take her home with us either. I did try talking to her, but she wasn’t very cooperative. She directed me to you.’

‘She is willing to help, but for a price.’

‘Which is?’

‘Pretty much the same as Wiola’s was.’

‘Ah! These alien chicks seem to like you.’

‘They like strength.’

‘Maybe you should be a little more careful about demonstrating it then.’

‘Who was it that made me sort out that lizard guy?’

‘Oh right! I forgot about that.’

‘It was your little girlfriend that got me into trouble with Wiola. She had never even heard of me before that.’

‘Ouch!’

‘I know, why don’t you bonk her? We can get the nanites in her head to make her believe it is me.’

A chill went through Steven. ‘I don’t think so, Komoru would kill me.’

‘Well my girlfriend has a bigger ship than your girlfriend.’ Charlie replied in a childish voice. ‘You take one for the team, for merry old England.’

‘We aren’t English.’

‘I’m sure Komoru would understand.’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘We could send her off on a long journey somewhere, you could do the dirty deed then.’

‘All right Charlie, I get the message! It’s our fault.’

They fell into a long silence. Steven was almost mesmerized by what he was seeing through Charlie’s eyes.

‘It’s pretty isn’t it?’

‘Aye, fascinating.’

‘Help me Charlie.’

Charlie sighed, ‘Have you had a chance to check out the new star maps?’

‘Not yet, not properly anyway.’

‘From the edge of the Empire’s territory we are six months from Earth, and four from Federation space. It is going to take us months to travel to that point. As you have said, we have no supplies. Merro might help us; it would also make it easier to dump the wee princess.’

‘You don’t think he had anything to do with all of this?’

‘It was his information that got us into this pickle but let’s not throw stones in a glasshouse. He had to get the information from somewhere.’

‘You mean us.’

‘I mean all of us.’

‘Right!’

‘It would also tip our hand. They must realise by now that she is with us, and they probably believe that we have taken her as a hostage.’

‘How did she get on board? That should have been impossible.’

‘She jumped up on Lewis’s back a split second before we transported. She dug her nails right under his skin.’

‘Ah! So, the transporter thought they were one entity. That is dangerous.’

‘If you want to see how dangerous it is, just tease him a little about growing hairy boobs.’ The pair laughed until their sides hurt. ‘The doctor did give him a clean bill of health though.’

‘That’s one thing. But what you’re saying is that if we go back the way we came, they will know.’

‘We sent a probe out in that direction to lead them away. To give us time to repair Babes. We wouldn’t have known about this place if it wasn’t for Florina.’

‘Then we should be safe? I would have headed to the nearest asteroid belt.’

‘Aye well we should be safe enough, right up until they discovered that she is with us and might have told us about this place. Time is our enemy right now.’

‘That’s why they tried to revive me earlier.’

‘Aye.’

Steven watched a strange creature shimmy up a wall close by.

‘The star maps?’

‘There is no need for us to leave from this point. We now have a detailed map of the whole Empire and its planets. We can steal their gold and replace it with ours, so it isn’t noticed. Same with silver. We can mint our own coins with their metals and replace them with ours. We can travel in the opposite direction, stocking up on food as we go. Some from this planet, some from that. A little bit at a time so as not to arouse suspicion. Pay with gold or silver. As soon as we have enough stores, we drop the princess on a world where she can get in contact with her people and piss off home.’

‘How can we buy stores?’

‘Supermarkets.’

‘There will be an Empire-wide alert soon enough. They will be on the lookout for us.’

‘I’ll do it, I can change my appearance as soon as Babes is in full working order again.’

‘You are going to take her with you?’

‘Of course.’

‘She will cooperate?’

‘She will if I give her what she wants.’

‘Which is?’

‘Sex Steven. Lots and lots of rumpy pumpy.’

‘So you are going to take one for merry old England.’

‘The truth be told; I have banged a lot worse. That’s when I was very young and very drunk though.’

‘Does she know she can’t come with us?’

‘She knows the risks if we go back through Merro. They will have thrown a wide net. Merro will be put in danger as well as herself. In fact, our chances of making it home that way are very slim indeed. She has come to face the fact that she doesn’t want to return to the Federation, that we can never have a normal relationship and that I will never stay here with her. It just isn’t safe. To that end she wants what she can get from the short time we will be together. Romance, lots and lots of sex, and at the end of it all a baby.’

‘What the hell man!’

‘It’s the call of the wild Steven. She is in love. She sees a way to get me all to herself for a while. Her hormones are in overdrive and interfering with her rational thought.’

‘I hope Jean doesn’t find out.’

‘Right now, her father and his compadres will be looking for some kind of way out of the situation they have found themselves in, especially with Humanity. It could have been a very lucrative alliance for them. The minute he gets his precious little girl back with a wee Charlie inside her, he will have all the ammunition he needs to launch a major propaganda campaign. Jean will know long before we get home.’

‘How do you feel about that?’

‘Not very good. It doesn’t matter, our relationship was over anyway. Still, it pisses me off. It was going so well. I really liked her Stevie. What little we had was good. We both knew that it could never last, but I was hoping it would last a lot longer than it did.’

‘Can I apologise?’

‘What the hell for!’

‘For all the shit you have had to go through.’

Charlie shook his head, ‘Forget about it. Fate is a bitch, and right now she is riding me with spurs.’

‘I want to go speak to the rest of the staff about your suggestions. I won’t tell them about the personal stuff though.’

‘Fair enough.’

Steven went back down through the hatch and left Charlie to his lonely vigil.

chapter 3

Aurora had spent almost the whole day waiting for an audience with the Emperor. The day before she had hunted high and low for Florina. It wasn’t the first time that Florina had got clean away from everyone, and she hadn’t really been too worried at first. But as the tension around the Emperor’s quarters heightened, she began to get more fearful.

They had returned the day before and Florina had been told that her father was entertaining the Humans in the courtyard. She had hurried to see which of them were there. By the time Aurora had caught up, Florina had vanished. Her own mother hadn’t even been too worried. Aurora had asked everyone she knew for help, but no one was taking any notice of her.

Eventually, the Emperor had stopped on his way to his private chambers.

‘What is it Aurora?’ He was in a bad mood and seemed extremely stressed out about something.

‘I still cannot find Princess Florina. I have looked everywhere sire, talked to everyone. She hasn’t left the grounds either.’

He tapped a foot impatiently, then turned to an aide. ‘Get a hold of her, tell her to return to her chambers immediately.’

He bowed. ‘Yes sire.’ The Emperor walked away, and the aide sent a scowl at Aurora, but she was relieved.

Exhausted by her long day, it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep in her own bed chambers. In the morning she got showered and changed, then made her way to Florina’s room. It was empty. She caught the Empress at a late breakfast but was shouted at. Again, she went around everyone she knew, to no avail. The Emperor found her waiting outside his offices late in the evening.

He stopped tapping his foot. ‘What is it this time?’

‘She still hasn’t returned sire.’

He turned to the luckless aide. ‘Why not?’

‘I ah… sent out word to find her sire. Sent messages to her tablet.’

‘Did she reply?’

‘Not that I am aware of.’

‘Then make yourself aware. In fact, go find her now and drag her to see me. We have no time for this at the moment.’ He turned back to Aurora. ‘Return to your chambers.’

She bowed, ‘Yes sire.’

Aurora ate a frugal meal, had a bath and checked for Florina before going to bed. Her fears were getting stronger. She slept fitfully and in the morning found herself summoned to the Emperor’s breakfast table. A very tired looking aide stood behind him.

‘Good morning Aurora, where did you last see Florina?’

‘She was coming to greet you and the Humans sire. She wanted to see if Charlie was amongst them.’

‘Did you hear about what happened?’

‘No sire.’

‘There was an incident. The Humans left, now we are searching for them.’

‘Oh!’

‘Do you think there may be a possibility that they might have taken her as a hostage?’

‘They aren’t like that sire.’

‘The simple fact is that she is nowhere to be found. Did she have any communication devices on her at all?’

‘I think they are all in her room.’

‘Damn it! Alright Aurora, go find my wife and stay with her for the rest of the day.’

‘Yes sire.’

‘Put me in touch with Merro.’ He ordered.

A few minutes later a tablet was put in front of him. Merro was sitting under a tree.

‘What can I do for you Father?’

‘Your sister is missing.’

‘I’m sorry, I thought she was with you.’

‘She arrived then disappeared as quickly. I am afraid there was a problem with the Humans, they are now fugitives. Do you think they might have taken her hostage?’

It took a moment for Merro to gather his wits. ‘No, that is impossible. None of them would have done that. What have you done?’

‘I don’t know what you mean Merro. Why didn’t you tell me about the abilities of the one you called Charlie?’

‘You mean his surprising strength?’

‘No, his other abilities.’

‘Oh, you mean his abilities to detect lies? It is something I have always been sceptical about. Why are they fugitives?’

‘That has nothing to do with you.’

‘They are my friends. I want to know.’

His tone raised an eyebrow. ‘Watch your language. If you hear from them, you will get in touch with us immediately.’ The screen went blank.

It took a while for Merro to get over his shock. When he told Taylana, she was also shocked to hear about what had happened. He decided to get to the bottom of it. He went to his own security services. It didn’t take him long to get an answer. Within an hour, one of his aides came in with a transcript of a message they had picked up days before. He took it through to Taylana and read it out loud.

‘To all Federation and Human forces. Priority one message for all high commands. The Earth’s Goodwill Ambassador, Steven Gordon and his ship came under attack from an unknown energy weapon. The Ambassador at this time is incapacitated, but the ship is operational. We have since determined that the death of the former Ambassador to this region was a deliberate assassination to draw Ambassador Gordon here, in an attempt to procure for themselves the nanotechnology of the Builder’s ships. We are now fugitives and attempting to make our way back to friendly space.’ A small smile crept onto his face. ‘Charlie wrote this.’

‘How do you know?’

He flipped the paper, ‘Read the last line.’

She did so and also smiled, ‘Yes, that is definitely Charlie.’

Back with the Emperor himself, things were beginning to heat up. Although there were no cameras allowed within the residency, every other camera and its footage was scanned by professionals so as to find a clue to Florina’s whereabouts. By the following morning the Emperor held an emergency meeting with his peers and explained the situation to them. By then, it was speculated that she had somehow managed to get herself beamed up with the Humans and was now either a fugitive herself or a hostage. It mattered not to them. It was an excuse for them to put out an Imperial order stating that she had been abducted.

chapter 4

The ships slid out of their hideout into the maelstrom beyond. In the observation bubble Charlie sat alone. With their systems on passive, the ships were as blind as the crew. Both of them had patched into his optical systems. Babes led the way; Ico followed closely behind. Once out of the canyons, they turned back to the centre of the storm and lifted themselves up out of the planet’s atmosphere.

By the time they reached orbit, Charlie was nearing the point of exhaustion. Florina had been the one to take him his meals during his vigil. As the ship had came back to life, she had been invited into more and more of the meetings. Her heart sank when she found out what route they were going to take on the way home. However, her spirits had risen when she realised it was going to take them an extra three months to reach the point where they could make a dash for Earth. Rather than have Charlie to herself for a few weeks, she would now have him for a few months.

She walked with Charlie down to the dining hall and shared a meal with him. He had returned to his room and she had then followed her nose to the bridge.

Steven smiled at her and indicated the empty seat by his side.

‘How’s Charlie?’

‘He looks exhausted.’

‘I’m not surprised. Tomorrow he is going to put himself into a coma for two days.’

‘He explained that to me. Babes is also going to change my appearance somewhat. She is going to change the colour of my fur and its patterns, and make some slight physical changes to alter my shape and outline. What will Charlie look like?’

‘Little more than a Behema version of himself. What we don’t want is for him to stand out like a sore thumb.’

‘He says he has done this before?’

With a smile he took out his pad and showed her a picture of Charlie as a robot and as a Modloch.

‘Woah! Seriously?’

‘Yes, that’s him.’

She pointed, ‘The Modloch standing beside the Emperor?’

‘That’s him.’

‘He even makes the Modloch race good-looking.’

Steven blinked in surprise, ‘Yes well, there were some hiccups with the transformation. It was Darrick who chose a face for Charlie, a composite of those from his own family.’

She nodded, ‘So he looked like a royal.’

‘Yes, that’s right. Only he did too good a job and Charlie drew too much attention from every Modloch female they came across, and a few others as well.’

‘I can see why.’

‘Really?’

She looked him square in the eye, ‘You can’t see it because you are a male.’

‘I will take that as a compliment. The last thing we want to do is draw attention to either of you. That’s why we need a cover story.’

‘What about identification? If we get stopped, we will need it.’

‘I’m not too sure. Have you any ideas?’

‘I don’t really know much about it. Maybe if I was a commoner I would know a lot more.’

‘You probably would.’

‘It is all highly regulated; I know that much. The further out you go, the less people care about such things though. Can’t you steal or copy some?.’

‘It is something we are thinking about, we do have the technology to duplicate an ID.’

‘I think they are scanned automatically as you enter any large complex.’

‘I think it would be best if you avoided such places anyway, big cities too. Somewhere out in the boonies where even if you are noticed, people aren’t going to pay too much attention. I want to reach the next star system before we even try anything like this.’

‘Then you might want to update your translators with mine. That way we will have no problems communicating.’

‘I want you to go and speak to Cookie. He will show you the kind of basic things that we are going to need. Most things will no doubt be available in your own world, but we will need to know the local names of them, and you will need to recognize them when you see them.’

‘Maybe he could give me some lessons. I have never cooked with raw ingredients before. I don’t know the first thing about it.’

Steven smiled, ‘That is an even better idea. I am sure he will be more than happy to oblige.’ He studied her for a moment. ‘You look very calm considering the situation.’

‘I am getting what I want, why wouldn’t I be calm?’

‘Do you always get what you want?’

‘I didn’t think I was going to get this. Do not misjudge what is happening here Steven. A princess is a precious commodity. Right now, my father is going through a long list of suitors, trying to find the match that will benefit him the most. A princess who has been deflowered is a big enough disgrace, but I am hoping to return with a child. I will be of no use whatsoever, my usefulness as a regal commodity will vanish. I will be disgraced; I can assure you my life will not be the bed of roses it has been up until now. I believe that is a Human saying.’

‘Then why are you doing it, why risk it all?’

‘Because I am in love. Is that not enough? When we were sent to Federation space and I was told that I might have to marry Charlie, I couldn’t have been more excited. Of course, it isn’t princess-like to admit that, but I was secretly thrilled. That so many people fought to keep him shocked me. How could one person be so valued by so many? I watched him closely. I have watched him with you, with Darrick, with his friend the engineer, the people he works with. He is something a little different to each. It was quite fascinating.

‘I had resigned myself to the loss. Resigned myself to being bartered off to some crusty old noble, or some alien prince. A lifetime of no love, or certainly not a love like this. Now I have an opportunity for a few months of happiness, true happiness. To be with someone I care about more than any other. I am going to grab it with both arms open.’

Steven smiled sadly, ‘Then I wish you the best of luck.’

‘I can’t believe he is going to change himself into a Behema!’

chapter 5

Michael Montgomery found himself in one of his least favourite places: the Modloch Emperor’s throne room. The menace emanating off the Emperor as he read out the message was all too real.

‘There is one final part to the message, sir.’

‘Then read it out,’ Darrick growled.

Michael’s head dropped to