Collision Course

By Annagail Lynes

Jessa "Peacock" Masters is keeping secrets as usual...from her partner Nate, her father and her source. She is doing so to make sure this mission goes off without a hitch, but there are two flies in the ointment--her recently discovered parents-in-law, Nick and Kate Masters, who think they should go on this mission instead of her. They want to prove that they still have what it takes to be the top team in the Intergalactic Intelligence Bureau. Only one person stands in the way of that goal: Jessa. Will this mission go off without a hitch, or will Nick and Kate get everyone on this mission killed?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781105460562

Book preview

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~one~

Fourteen crew members have complained that their quarters have been broken into in the past week, Colonel.  Five shopkeepers have reported thefts, Major Troy Riley, my third-in-command on the StarVessel Liberty, ran down the highlights of his meetings with the department heads.

In 2100, Earth’s Armed Services joined together to form the Freedom Alliance, a United-Nations-like organization.  Although each branch functioned as it always had, each came under the rules and regulations of the Freedom Alliance.  Fifty years later, a faction of members no longer agreed with the Freedom Alliance and broke away to create the Crimson Fleet.  Their sole mission?  To create a one-world totalitarian government.  This sparked the war between the Freedom Alliance and the Crimson Fleet.  My husband Nate Masters and I commanded the USS Liberty, the flagship of the Freedom Alliance, stationed at the frontlines of the war. 

Sitting across from me, my desk in between us, Riley looked up from his QuanPad, a hand-held device that held the memory of a full-sized computer, and demanded, Colonel, are you listening to me?

Yes, I confirmed, resting my head on my hand, barely able to keep my eyes open.  Fourteen crew break-ins.  Five shop thefts.

Riley nodded and went on, Engineering and Security have also noted missing equipment.  Security Chief Vincent wants you to know that he is making these thefts one of his top priorities.

I felt myself nodding off.  I tried to keep my forest-green eyes from closing, but they felt very heavy. 

Major Riley—a tall man with dark hair shaved into a crew cut who had pretty boy features with a small nose, dimples and a cleft in his chin--slammed his QuanPad down on my desk.  My eyes open with a start.  I’m sorry.  I don’t know what is wrong with me today.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, the Major began, leaning back in his chair.  His light green eyes caught my gaze.  May I make a suggestion?

I waved at him and remarked, By all means.  You know I value your opinion.

"Ever since the Jefferson was attacked and we sent the Lieutenant Colonel and some of our crew to help them out, we have been short-staffed, Major Riley observed, folding his arms across his chest.  And all of us, but especially you, have been pulling double and triple shifts." 

He dropped his hands and inched to the edge of his seat.  Leaning forward, he declared, I am worried about you, Colonel.  I know you haven’t slept in thirty-six hours.  And when was the last time you ate?

I had a banana and some orange juice a few hours ago, I returned, rubbing my eyes. 

If he only knew why I hadn’t slept in thirty-six hours or why I only had a banana and juice, he would change his tune. But it was extremely important that I didn’t let out too many details otherwise people would start asking too many questions.

Yes but being awake for thirty-six hours straight with very little food isn’t good for anyone, he chided, moving his eyes down to my protruding stomach.  Especially a woman who is eight months pregnant.

My sister-in-law, the headmistress of the school aboard the Liberty, wanted a baby. But when she became pregnant after a series of miscarriages, she learned that she couldn’t carry the baby full-term.  The baby, or as it turned out, babies, were transferred to a surrogate’s womb–mine. On top of Joey’s boys, I conceived again a few months later.  This time with my own child.  Thus, the tenants in my womb went from two to three in a matter of months.

Moving back in his seat, he raked his eyes over me. The Lieutenant Colonel and the rest of our crew is returning sometime today, he assented, stroking his chin with his hand.  I can handle things until then.  Why don’t you have something to eat and get a little shut-eye?

I can’t.

I can handle things.

It’s not that. For the last two weeks, I’ve been having these terrible nightmares.

Then why don’t you get some food in your system, take a warm bath and just lie down, Major Riley proposed, meeting my gaze.  "You are an example to the rest of this crew.  They do what you emulate.  Now do you really want a sleep-and-food-deprived navigator flying the Liberty, he persisted, tilting his head to the side, or a person working on the engines that hasn’t slept in thirty-six hours?"

I chuckled, coughing into my hand.  You are definitely getting good at this, I commented, wagging my finger at him.  I glanced over at the pictures of Nate–the Lieutenant Colonel–and my wedding. Nate looked handsome in his tuxedo.  His dark hair, cappuccino-colored eyes and rugged features would make him look incredible in a sackcloth.

I held the most recent photo of our family in my hands, studying it. We took it after my god-children, Rina and Caleb came to live with us.  It included the whole family–our kids, our sisters, our parents, my god-children and my Aunt Maddy. 

My godmother, Madeline Ashton, now President of the United States, lived next door to me growing up.  Her son, Tony, and I were best friends, and when he married and had children, he made me their godmother.  Their mother Tracey died months before my first husband, Nate’s brother, Ben did.  Tony could not get over his grief of Tracey’s passing nearly three years ago.  He started drinking and sent his children to live with us.

Ben and I had one child together—our daughter Reggie.  Nate had a son Remy who he did not know about until after we married.  Together Nate and I had our twins, Lizzie and Danny.  Then my parents gave us custody of my younger sister.  Our inn was definitely full, but I found myself grateful for every addition to our growing family.

I turned in my chair, trying to find a position that relieved the pain in my pelvis. A stab of guilt tugged at my heart.  For the past two weeks, I hadn’t spent much time with the kids at all.  After working all night, I rushed back to our quarters.  I took a shower, changed clothes, got the kids off to school and returned to work...except for the last three mornings.  With Nate gone and me working all the time, they had to rely on Joey, her husband Colin and their grandparents to take care of them.  And that wasn’t fair.  But what choice did I have?

I replaced the photo and sighed heavily, admitting, But you are right.  Looking up at him, I pushed my wheelchair back and moved past him to the door.  Major, you are in charge until further notice.

Joey’s twins shared one placenta.  Due to the distance between the placenta and my cervix, I was on strict orders to stay off my feet as much as possible.  Thus, the wheelchair.

And see, I thought I was going to have to get Doctor Manning to back me up.

I turned my chair around to face him.  Now that would have never worked.  I know you have my best interests at heart, Major, but I am not so sure about Doctor Manning.

With that, I rolled out the doors of my office and headed to my quarters.

Jessa, what are you doing home so early in the day, Kate, my mother-in-law, required as I dragged myself into our quarters a few minutes later.  She turned to her husband Nick and noted, She doesn’t look so good, Nick.  I think she’s been working too hard.

A decade ago, Federal Agents Nick and Kate Masters, Joey and Nate’s parents, had disappeared while on assignment.

Nate and I, also Federal Agents with the Intergalactic Intelligence Bureau (IIB) as well as officers in the Freedom Alliance, investigated the abuse of prisoners of war in Washington DC.  In the course of that investigation, I discovered Nick and Kate’s whereabouts.  They were staying with us aboard the Liberty indefinitely, trying to connect with their children and now, their grandchildren. They had only been reunited with their family for six weeks, but for two of those weeks, their son Nate had been away, aboard the Jefferson.

I wished I could tell them what I had done, but I was under strict orders not to breathe a word of it to anyone. Major Riley agrees with that analysis, Kate. He convinced me to come home and lay down, I explained, stopping to look at my parents-in-law, who sat on the long, smoky-blue couch in our living room.

Looking at Nick and Kate was like getting a sneak peek at what Joey and Nate were going to look like twenty or so years from now. 

Kate’s thick, dark tresses were now frosted by gray.  Her blue eyes had creases around them.  Other than that, she aged well, considering that she had been held hostage in a basement for ten years.  Her skin, accented by her high cheekbones, appeared smooth.  Not a wrinkle could be found. 

Nick had the same rugged features as Nate.  Only Nate’s black hair was longer in the back.  Nick’s hair had more grays, but they both shared the male Masters’ birthmark on the side of their necks and the same cappuccino-colored eyes.

I’m going to draw a bath and then lay down, I told them, propelling my chair down the hallway.  After my bath, I parked my chair next to the nightstand in my bedroom.  I climbed into bed and snuggled deep within the covers.  Within seconds, I let sleep overtake me.

I screamed at the top of my lungs.  My eyes flew open, and I sat upright in bed.  Trying to calm my racing heart, I scanned the room.  The chocolate-colored vanity opposite the bed.  The doors that led to the nursery.  The walk-in closet.  The dark-colored nightstands.  I laid in my bed in our master bedroom aboard the Liberty.  Grabbing my pillow, I held it against my chest.  A gnawing feeling in my stomach indicated these re-occurring dreams wanted to tell me something but what?

Well, I am never going to get any sleep this way, I decided.  Reaching over to the nightstand, I picked up the bottle of sleeping pills Doctor Dakota had prescribe me.  He insisted they were non-addictive and that they wouldn’t hurt the babies, but I had refused to take them.  I can handle it, I told myself.  But I was desperate.  I needed to sleep without the dreaded dreams.  Especially after what I had been through over the last few days.  I bent my knee, wincing, trying to alleviate the pain in my pelvis. Flipping off the lid with my thumb, I dropped one pill into my hand.  When I returned the bottle to the nightstand, I noticed the food tray that someone left on it.  I brought the tray over to my lap and poured myself a glass of orange juice.  I coughed so bad that I dropped the glass onto the tray, shattering it into pieces.  My chest felt as if it were on fire.

Remy burst through the doors and yelled, Momma!  Momma!  Are you okay?  He stared at my hand.  When I looked at younger pictures of Nate, I marveled at how much Remy–Nate’s biological son, my adopted son–looked like him.  Although Remy’s hair was dirty blond, it seemed to darken more and more with every passing day.  They possessed the same long nose and full lips.  The same strong jaw.  You’re bleeding.  He pointed behind him.  I’ll go get the first aid kit and be right back. As fast as he appeared at the door, he disappeared.  A few minutes later, he returned, rushing over to me.  He put the tray on the ground and took my hand in his.  What happened?

"I haven’t been sleeping well.