Derek Discovered

“So, Captain, how do you like these long deep-space runs?” Delaney asked. The two men sat across from each other at a small table on the starboard side of the bridge, sipping Tallasian tea as they anxiously watched Commander Hollinger, hunched over the console at her post conducting genetic scans. Neither one liked the idea of a convict running loose amongst 1,200 unsuspecting passengers.

“It’s only a two-and-a-half-week run each way with some time in between, it’s not bad. When I was in the military anything less than six months was considered a short run. Besides that, our ships weren’t exactly this nice. We were just glad they had a toilet.”

“Was that during the Terrilian war?”

“Yeah. All available space on a star destroyer back then was used for fuel, weaponry and ammunition. You always had a lot more room on the return trip.” Captain Maverick dropped his eyes to the table sadly, remembering what it was like. “If you were lucky enough to get a return trip. I was a young lieutenant fresh out of the Academy back then. Lost a lot of great friends and some not-so-good friends, but regardless, they were all good people. Damn Terrilians!”

“Is that why you like flying this sector of space?”

The Captain smiled an acknowledgement to the Marshall that he wasn’t far from the truth.

“Marshall, once a military man, always a military man. I left the service, and now command a pleasure ship. Most people on board aren’t even traveling to any specific planet or station. They are on this ship just to relax, enjoy themselves, and then return to Earth to their regular lives. And mind you, there’s nothing wrong with that. To me, however, this ship, this quadrant of space, is my life.

“I think of myself as still being on duty. In my mind, I am patrolling this sector of space, monitoring Terrilian activity. If I sense anything amiss, I report it and do anything I can to keep those arrogant humanoids out of the quadrant. After I was wounded during the war, the military gave me a Galactic Medal of Honor, patted me on the back and put me behind a desk. Marshall, let me tell you, it’s boring behind a desk.”

“Do you have a family, Captain?”

“I surely do. My crew,” the Captain stated with pride. “But I know that’s not what you mean by a family. Yes, there was somebody once, but I’m afraid the Terrilians stole that from me.”

“Captain,” interrupted one of the Bridge Engineers, Bradley Milton, from his post “we seem to have a malfunctioning food synthesizer in one of the Executive Level suites. Suite 1005. We have tried taking it offline to repair it, yet we have been unable to. It seems to be locked up in some kind of a synthesizing loop.”

“Are you sure it’s not one of our passengers making enough caviar for their five-hundred closest friends?” the Captain responded with a sarcastic twist to his words. He’d seen the excesses that his wealthy passengers went to in order to try and outdo each others’ parties.

“I’m positive, sir,” replied the younger man. “It seems to be working with a significant quantity of carbon and hydrogen molecules. I don’t know of any known food item that requires high concentrations of those two elements.”

“Mr. Milton, send an emergency relief crew to the room immediately and, whatever you do, shut off that synthesizer.”

“Captain, the malfunction has us completely locked out of the suite’s computer. It will have to be done from inside the room”

“Then get us an emergency crew up there. I’ll go disable it. Commander Hollinger, you’re with me.” As he headed out with his Security Officer, the Captain turned back to his engineer. “Mr. Milton, tell the relief crew to bring artificial breathing equipment.”

“I don’t like the sound of that, Captain,” interjected Marshall Delaney as he jumped into action, “I’ll go with you.”

“Just stay put Marshall. A broken food synthesizer is not a law-enforcement concern.”

“Based on your hurry and level of alarm, I believe it is, Captain. Besides, as an officer of the law I am allowed to walk anywhere on this ship I deem necessary.”

Captain Maverick clenched his teeth. He didn’t need a self-righteous, egotistical cop getting in his way, but he knew that the Marshall was correct, it was a law-enforcement officer’s right. Who knows, it might turn out to be useful to have an extra pair of hands along. It was probably nothing, but he didn’t like the sound of those two elements ‘cooking’ together.

The last time he remembered a situation similar to this one … Well, he was not going to think about it. It couldn’t be. Not this long after the war and surely not on a pleasure transport.

No words were uttered as Captain Maverick, with Commander Hollinger and Marshall Delaney following closely behind, rushed to Suite 1005.

Once at the suite’s door, the Captain ordered:

“Computer, override lock and open door. Security code, Captain Jonathan Maverick.”

The computer quickly complied. The emergency crew hadn’t arrived yet, but the Captain went ahead and entered the room, followed by his Chief of Security and Marshall Delaney. They were met by the wrong end of a disruptor pointed straight at them by a nice-looking man he immediately recognized from the picture the Marshall had shown him of Derek Hart, the escaped convict, with a beautiful red-haired woman laying on the couch directly behind him. Captain Maverick assumed she was probably one of his passengers. Derek Hart appeared to be protecting her, from them.

“Don’t move a muscle if you would like to keep all of your body’s molecules within the same general vicinity,” Derek stated sternly. “Computer, contact ship security and have them send a small detachment.”

“I am ship security,” stated Commander Hollinger, stepping up beside the Captain.

“Then why are you trying to kill this passenger? And you, Marshall, how are you involved in this plot?” Derek responded.

Marshall Delaney stepped up and addressed Derek.

“Mr. Hart, nobody is trying to kill anybody. The Captain here is excited about something having to do with your food synthesizer and, frankly, I’m here to take you back. If you go willingly and nobody gets hurt, I’ll see to it that your sentence is not increased for your escape.”

“A professional assassin just tried to kill Ms. Weiss by synthesizing some lethal gaseous concoction. I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t just take your word that you’re on the right side of the law.”

It was Captain Maverick’s turn to try and talk some sense into the escaped convict.

“Mr. Hart, I’m not going to lie to you. You are correct to be concerned, but we are the least of your worries. Somehow your food synthesizer, got locked out of the central network and flooded the suite with Methane. My crew detected this malfunction and that’s why we are here.”

Marshall Delaney looked at Derek and challenged, “Mr. Hart, you are one of the few people around who could have pulled off a stunt like this. How do we know you’re not the one who tried to kill Ms. Weiss?”

“Kill me? He saved my life. If it wasn’t for Derek I would have fallen asleep and never woken up,” Tiana defended Derek.

“Marshall, in case you haven’t noticed, I was in here with her. I would have died too. Besides, I designed the system that runs everything in this suite. I know it backwards and forwards. If I had done whatever it was that just happened, I would have covered my tracks and you would have never been the wiser.” Derek paused, unable to keep a mischievous grin off his face. “By the way, how are Mr. and Mrs. Leckelman doing? Incidentally, Captain, I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered them a bottle of champagne and paid for it from your entertainment account. I figured it was the least you could do.”

The Captain couldn’t keep a smile from his strong countenance even though the joke was at his expense. Clearly, this character knew his way around the ship’s computers. Turning to the Marshall, he stated what was obvious to everyone in the room.

“Marshall, I can’t speak for his prior crimes, but I have little doubt that Mr. Hart was not the source of this accident. If he—”

“It was no accident!” Tiana interrupted. “A professional killer is trying to kill me, and if it wasn’t for Derek he would have succeeded. Marshall, where were you and the rest of ‘our galaxy’s finest’ ten minutes ago? Captain, is this how you protect and take care of your passengers? From my perspective, you should be thanking Derek for picking up the slack and doing the job that you should have been doing!”

“Ms. Weiss,” the captain struggled for patience as he realized she had just called him an incompetent idiot without actually saying the words. “I understand you’re upset over this unfortunate situation, but we don’t actually know that anyone is trying to kill you. And as for you, Mr. Hart, kindly put the disruptor down and surrender to me immediately or we will be forced to shut down power to the suite and take you anyway.”

“What will happen to Derek?” Tiana asked as she stepped over the couch and protectively stood between Derek and the Captain.

“I will take him back to prison and if he goes quietly, I won’t press charges against you for helping a criminal elude the police and harboring him in your room.”

Derek’s face was an open book to the Captain. This supposed criminal held to a code of ethics. He was very protective of the red-haired woman. He would not allow any harm to come to her. Derek’s response, when it came, wasn’t a surprise.

“Computer, remove disruptor,” Derek ordered.

* * * *

As Tiana watched him being escorted away, she felt her heart sink. Now she wished he had only been a hologram. But he wasn’t. He is a real man, and I do mean a real man. To make matters worse, she realized for the first time since their meeting that he now occupied a special place in her life. The thought of her existence, her career, her new start without him seemed untenable, barren and foreign. Clearly she had gotten used to having him around and he had awakened the lust within her. After the horror of Tom’s betrayal she knew she wasn’t developing romantic feelings for Derek, but she did owe him for saving her life. Little Miss Fix-it rose to the top. Derek was innocent and she needed to do something, but what? How could she best help him? Her Legal-Bot! Maybe there was some technicality they could both cling to for an appeal. Both cling to? Just till I have mind-blowing sex, then I’ll be fine.

“Computer, call Legal-Bot Darius-20.”

All during her divorce proceedings she had refused to grant the robot the courtesy of acknowledging him by his name, or treating him in any way the same as she would a sentient being. Let’s face it, it was a machine. An arrogant, self-absorbed machine, but a machine nevertheless.

Over the suite’s speakers, the robot’s tone was cold enough to freeze the pitchfork off the devil. “What can I do for you, Ms. Weiss?”

She would have to suck up.

“Darius, I’m glad I caught you. I left in such a hurry that I forgot to properly thank you for the way you successfully handled my case. You were right. Any other Legal-Bot would not have been able to resolve the situation without your panache and skill. I want to apologize for my rudeness to you at the courthouse. I was extraordinarily stressed from the difficulties surrounding the divorce. Your intelligence and knowledge of the law gave me my freedom and I failed to ever thank you.”

“Well, Ms. Weiss, I am glad to see you came to your senses and have realized my value. I am prepared to forgive you.”

With that ego the damn thing has got to be male!

“Oh, Darius, thank you for your forgiveness,” she exclaimed using her best damsel-in-distress tone. “It will allow me closure on that dark period of my life. You are indeed the best in the business.”

Gag me. I think I’m gonna to throw up.

“You are correct, I exist at the top of my field.”

“You know, that’s actually the secondary reason for my call, the fact that you are the best in your field. I am in need of some legal advice and no Legal-Bot but Darius the Great will do.”