Personal Log 2-6: Caligula's Secret

Harken slammed her brush into the bucket of soapy water. “This is the thanks I get? That lying weasel. I should never have listened to Perry. She said he’d pay us well, that we’d be rich. We’d never have to take orders from anyone again. And here I am, scrubbing the deck with you two. And Perry is dead.” She wiped a tear from her face.

“Perry deserved to die. She was a traitor.” Turner slapped his brush on the floor, spattering the wall with soap bubbles.

“You know nothing!”

The guard at the end of the hall eyed us suspiciously.

“Scrub the floor or they might send us after Commander Perry.” I watched him as I scrubbed another deck plate. “We have to find a way out of here.”

“No Klingons to pick a fight with this time,” Turner whispered. “I wonder what they did with Evangeline and Vasha.”

An explosion rocked the ship. Lights turned red as alarms shrieked through the air. Our guard took off at a run. I threw my brush at the bucket.

“Looks like opportunity to me. Can you fly a shuttle?” I grabbed Harken’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” She shoved my hand away.

“Turner and I can’t fly. We need you. Look, Harken, you help us escape, we won’t tell anyone about you and Perry and your smuggling in the Odyssey.”

“Adrian.” Turner tugged my arm. “Is the Odyssey still docked?”

“I don’t know.”

“We don’t need her. Delphi Protocol, Adrian.”

“It doesn’t work, Adam.”

“If we get Vasha and Evangeline. . .”

“Right. Have fun cleaning decks, Harken.” I scrambled to my feet. Turner and I ran down the hall.

“Idiots! They’re this way!” Harken called, careful not to shout too loud.

“You’re with us, then?” I tried to glare as I followed her through Caligula’s ship.

“I get you out of here, you keep your mouth shut. And we let Perry take the blame.” Harken slid to a stop at a corner.

The three of us peered around the edge.

Caligula paced the hall, his leather coat flaring around his ankles. “What do you mean they have escaped? Find them, you imbeciles!”

The guards scattered. We backed hastily from the hall. Boots pounded behind us. Red light painted the walls in flickering lights as the ship’s power systems cycled down.

“In here.” Turner slid open a door. Harken and I crowded behind him.

“Somebody’s quarters,” Harken muttered as we stumbled through the room in the dark.

The door to the hall opened again. “I do not want to hear of failure. Is that clear?” Caligula’s voice echoed from the hall.

Harken swore under her breath as she slid into a storage locker. Turner crammed himself into a closet. I crawled under the bed.

Caligula stomped into his room. “Lights!” The emergency light glowed, casting shadows through the cabin.

I lifted the edge of his blanket to peer out.

Caligula sighed as he unfastened his leather coat. I watched in horror as he revealed his skinny torso. White skin puckered around metal implants. Caligula removed his glasses. His eyes glowed red in the dim light.

I shoved my fist in my mouth. His slight weight settled on the mattress above me. I suddenly had to go to the bathroom.

The storage locker door silently opened. Harken slid behind the couch. She signaled me. I shook my head. Three of us against a cyborg? We didn’t stand a chance. She fixed me with a fierce glare.

Personal Log 2-7: Who's the Hostage Now?

Caligula’s quiet snoring filled the room. Turner edged from the closet. He gripped a phaser in one hand. Harken pointed at the bed. I flattened myself to the floor as he raised the weapon, wondering if I was going to survive the next few moments.