Inside The Darkness

By Annagail Lynes

While delivering medical supplies to an Earth colony, Colonel Jessa Masters' SpaceCraft explodes, injuring her. Her injuries are so severe that they might sideline both of her careers. Why would someone on the planet want her dead? Were they afraid they might find out their secret? The secret hidden in the black box with the IIB insignia on it that Nate and her found on the planet? When the fingerprints come back from the pieces of the SpaceCraft tested from the explosion, she is shocked to find out it is one of her friends. When she goes on a quest to prove his innocence, she unravels a mystery that would rock her world literally if not stopped in time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781105399923

Book preview

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~one~

I’m blind, Mitch, I finally admitted out loud when I heard Doctor Dakota shuffle into my private area of the Liberty’s shooting range on level Zulu Niner. 

I lifted up my 9 mm and shot off a round at a target that I couldn’t see.  A veil of darkness shielded my eyes as if my eyes were on vacation or had just stepped out to lunch, but I knew that was not the case.  I reloaded and began firing at the target again.

My husband, Nate Masters, and I commanded the USS Liberty, the flagship of the Freedom Alliance, a United Nations-like organization that encompassed all of the branches of the Armed Services.  In 2150, some members of the Freedom Alliance did not agree with their rules and regulations any longer and broke away to create the Crimson Fleet, a group that believed that they knew what was best for the members and intended to create a government that told its people what to eat, what to wear and how to live their lives.  The Freedom Alliance went to war with them to stop a world takeover, which is how the Liberty crew and I ended up on the frontlines of the war.

In addition to being Freedom Alliance officers, Nate and I also served as intelligence operatives for the Intergalactic Intelligence Bureau (IIB) a covert organization that solves crimes in space and on Earth.

Just because you missed one doesn’t make you blind, Mitch assured me. 

As he approached, the more his cologne that smelled of rosemary, cinnamon and jasmine with a hint of oakmoss and sandalwood assaulted my nose. 

For some unknown reason, every time I inhaled his cologne, it brought me back to those summers my brothers, Robert, Paul and I spent in Prescott at summer camp.  For one week each year, we swam, hiked and met friends away from the abuse of Harrison Strazzer III, the man who raised me, the man I thought was my father until recently. 

I missed one, I required, reloading the gun again. 

Not that I can tell, but I assumed that was what you were referring to when you said you were blind, he answered.  I could hear his breathing more clearly now.  I decided that he must be directly behind me.

You remember how I told you that I had to meet with a contact on the planet’s surface, I asked, raising my gun and shooting again.

How’d that go, he prompted.

The meeting itself went well.  I also dropped off some medical supplies that Planet M-89 was in desperate need of.  I was just about to the shuttle when it exploded, I confessed as I continued to hit the target over and over again.  I caught some of the debris in my eyes.  I am blind.  I can’t see the target.  I can’t see the gun.  I can’t see you, my husband, my family, my crew.  Nothing.

He put his hands on my shoulders and massaged them deeply.  That’s awful.  You must be terrified.  What did Doctor Manning say?

My contact took me to an eye doctor on the planet, who told me that my eyesight could return in the next few hours, days, weeks.  He’s even seen some cases where it returned after years, and some where it never returned at all, I informed Mitch.  I uncocked the gun and swung around.  What if it never returns?  What am I going to do?  What good am I as an agent, or the commander of this vessel for that matter, if I can’t see?

He took me in his arms and held me, stroking my back with his hand.  You can’t worry about that right now.  You have to just take this one step at a time, he said in a soothing tone.  The first thing you have to do is tell your family.

No.  After what has been happening over the last few months, you are the only one I can trust with this secret, I whispered into his shoulder, then ranted,  I am not telling anyone else.  The family suffered so much those agonizing weeks that Nate was presumed dead after his shuttle went down.  And when he did come back, all of his memory was gone.  I can’t add more trouble to the flame.

Mitch now held me at arm’s length, probably studying me.  No doubt he had his eyebrows raised and his head tilted to the side like he always did when he was confused about something.  I thought you said that things were getting better, that he was learning to love you again like he used to.

I nodded, pursing my lips together.  He is.  He is working on cases with me again.  He looks at me like he used to.  He is interacting with the kids, helping them with homework, reading them bedtime stories.  Things are starting to become normal again, I started before running my tongue over my lips.  As normal as they can be under the circumstances.  And I don’t want to ruin that.

If that’s your decision, I will stick by you, but I think that–

You were the one who has stuck by me these last three months.  When everyone else–my family and Graham–were telling me to give up, you were there.  When I knew in my gut that he was still alive, you are the one who helped me find him. When I wanted to give up hope that Nate would ever love me again, you kept encouraging me to hang on.

"But how are you going to run the Liberty?  I can’t be with you twenty-four/seven."

The eye doctor on the planet implanted a device in my left cheek.  All I have to do is tell it where I am going, and it tells me how to get there.  How many feet to the next turn?  How many feet to the TravelTram?  Whether objects or people are in my way.  I can even ask it where something is.

Still I would feel better if you would share this secret with maybe the older children in your family–Remy, Rina and Ashley.  If you don’t want Nate or anyone on board to get suspicious, you have to seem as normal as possible.

I suppose you are right.  But that’s all. No one else is to know.  I don’t want anyone treating me as if I am unfit for duty.

My lips are sealed.  This comes under doctor/patient confidentiality.

My mouth inched into a smile, then I wondered, Would you mind walking me to my office?

I felt him put his arm around my waist and guide me out the doors of the private area into the main shooting range.  The clicking of people shooting their targets was so loud that I covered my ears with my hands until we entered the outer corridor.

Is that device in your cheek how you knew where to hit the target, Mitch prodded, guiding me toward the TravelTram, an elevator that took people up and down as well as sideways, at the other end of the hallway.

It helped, but a lot of it was because I have practiced at that range so much, I responded as I heard the swish of the TravelTram doors opening.

We rode the TravelTram to my office, discussing the situation in detail.  We had become such good friends over the last three months that we rarely had awkward gaps in the conversation.  We were comfortable talking about almost everything.

Are they in my office, I inquired of my company clerk, Lieutenant Thornhart.  By the sound of rustling papers and the whispers of people behind me, I was sure that the waiting area outside my office was brimming with people eager to get a minute with me.

Yes, Ma'am, came Lieutenant Thornhart's frazzled response.  I could hear the frustration in her voice.  I made a mental note to give her a few days off when things blew over.

I have a lot of items on my plate today.  If the people’s matters aren’t urgent, send them away, Lieutenant, I instructed her as I marched into my office.

Three humans one foot to the east, the implant informed me.  Two female.  One male.  The desk is three feet to the north,

Okay, you guys, I addressed as I close the gap between me and the desk, putting my hand out to feel for the edge.  When I located the ledge, I turned around and leaned against it. 

Momma, something's off with you.  What is it, Remy demanded.  By the sound of the footsteps, I knew he was coming toward me.  What is it, Momma?  Why aren't you looking at me?

I took a deep breath before answering, Because I can't, Remy.  I was in an accident on the planet's surface.  The shuttle I was using exploded, and I caught some debris in my eyes.

You are blind, Ashley interpreted.  Her voice sounded further away than Remy's.  She was probably still sitting on the couch.

The doctor on the planet thinks that it is only temporary, I agreed, raising my hand.  But I don't want anyone else to know about this, do you understand?

What about Uncle Nate, Rina questioned.  Her voice was also far away.

Christina and Caleb, my god children, had been living with us for the last few months while her father, my childhood friend Tony was on assignment for at least a year in the Middle East.

With all that Nate has been going through with his missing memory, I don't want to worry him or the rest of the family, I insisted, reaching for Remy's hand.  When I found it, I squeezed it.  This is going to be our little secret.

Why are you telling us, then, Ashley returned.

Because until I regain my sight, I am going to need your help to function as normally as possible.  That's if you are willing to help me, I responded.  My lips pulled down into a frown.  I promise when I feel Nate is up for it, I will tell him.  Anyone willing to help me, I continued.

I am, Remy said, kissing my cheek.

Me too, Ashley consented.  A few seconds later, I felt her hugging me.

What about you, Rina, I solicited, putting my arms around both Remy and Ashley.

Anything you need, Aunt Lucky, just tell me, Rina promised as I heard her run over to our group.  When she put her arms around me from the front, I smiled.

I was afraid that Rina wasn't adjusting well to life on a StarVessel.  Since her mother died a year and a half ago, she and her brother Caleb had been residing in the White House in Washington, DC, with their grandmother, my godmother, President Madeline Ashton, Aunt Maddy, as I called her.  Living aboard the Liberty was drastically different from the White House, with the secret service tracking their every move.  But I suspected that Rina was going to be just fine.

So where do you want us to start, Ashley invited just as the doors of my office hissed open.

Heavy footsteps moved across the room, then I heard someone plop down behind me.  I whispered to Remy, Did Papa just sit down on the window seat?

He nodded; his eyes widened in surprise.  How did you know, he asked in a hushed tone.

His footsteps.  He has very heavy footsteps, I told Remy.  Feeling around, I found Remy’s hair and ruffled it.

Okay, I've cleared it with Joey for you all to help me out on this...project, starting tomorrow, I continued in a low tone, reaching up and fingering the implant in my cheek.

But what about today, Aunt Lucky?  Shouldn't one of us help you today, Rina objected.

Today I want to go it alone, to see where I am going to need your help, I explained, reaching out to touch Rina's face.  I moved my hand over her chin, up her cheeks and nose to her forehead.  Even blind, she reminded me of her mother Tracey and her father Tony with a bit of Aunt Maddy thrown in for good measure.

I hugged each one of them individually, going from left to right, feeling for their faces.  You'd better get back to class.  We will discuss this after dinner, I charged them.

Are you sure, they said in unison.

I nodded and confirmed, I am sure.

I waited until the doors slid back together before I turned my head in Nate's direction.  Was there something you needed, Jag?

Yeah, you, he replied.  I heard his heavy footsteps coming toward me.  I moved my head forward.  I felt him put his warm hands on the sides of my face, and his lips touch my forehead.

Even in his state of not remembering any of his previous life, the instant he saw me he felt the connection between us.  I know you, he had said when I walked into his hospital room on Quebec Seven.  I just know that we have a connection like we have overcame many obstacles together, like our souls are knitted somehow, he had commented.

His hands slipped down to the sides of my neck and up through my hair.  In that moment, I felt a pang of guilt at not telling him.  But this man was not my Nate.  He was a shell of my husband, my partner, my best friend, re-learning who he was and about me and the other people in his life.  I didn't know if I could trust him.  And that scared me.  Not being able to trust Nate shook me to my core.  It terrified me to think that he might never regain his memories, that I would never be able to fully trust him again.

We had been partners since the first day I graduated the IIB Training program fourteen years ago.  There was no one I trusted more than Nate.  No one I trusted more with my life.  Besides my children, there was no one I loved more. Is this a social visit, or is it business?

How can you be so calm, Peak?  Agent Reyes just told me that your shuttle exploded on the planet, Nate advised me.

Being partnered so long, Nate and I called each other by our codenames.  His—Jaguar.  Mine—Peacock.

How much did my contact tell you?

That he took you to the doctor on the planet to be checked out, that you are doing fine, Nate disclosed, twisting my hair around his finger.

It was a bomb.  Someone tried to kill me down there, and I want to know why.

I'd like to know that myself, he agreed, stroking my cheek with his thumb.  I think that we should make that our first priority.  I mean the case we are working right now is a cold case.  I believe someone trying to kill you takes precedence.

That would require us sticking around this planet.  It would involve taking a trip to the planet, and frankly, I'm not sure, I want to return to Planet M-89.  Someone tried to kill me there, I murmured, putting my hand on my stomach.  Someone tried to kill me and Joey and Colin's baby.

Joey, Nate's sister, had suffered a series of miscarriages due to a tilted womb.  To correct the problem while saving the baby she was pregnant with, the doctor transferred the baby to my womb to carry to full-term.  I had lovingly nicknamed the fetus growing in my