Rige was steering through the debris when Jack walked through the door. "What is it, Rige?" he questioned as he sat in his pilot seat. Rige turned around to see Jack's eyes. "Mortar mines, captain." She said as she twisted back around in her seat.
"Rige, there is a reason the rearview is smaller than the windshield." Shin-To reminded her. Ade stood behind everyone, watching as they skillfully navigated their way through the dangerous field.
"Jack! Metal mine to your right." Jack bounced up and down as he steered the cruiser through a few mines. "Rige, turn the thrusters down to two and take it off of autopilot," Jack said. "Ade, you might want to take a seat and buckle up. We are a long way from Feminae." He finished.
Ade took his instructions to heart and did what he said. She sat down directly behind Brim. Rige turned around and nodded at her. Ade was thinking in the moments that if anyone could navigate through a dangerous minefield, it was Jack Brim and his capable crew.
"Up ahead. Two boogies, forty-five meters to the west." Jack announced to the cockpit. "Shin-To, get to the main hall and have everyone in emergency procedure three, mega level one." Shin-To nodded as he made his way towards the door.
Rige turned her head to acknowledge he was gone. "Rige, head in the game. I need you, sport." Jack harped at her. Did he notice that these two seemed intertwined? Did he care? "Sorry, Jack." She said as she pasted her face towards the windshield. "Won't happen again."
Ade was interested in Rige at this moment. She had noticed something different in her demeanor. "You're doing great, little one."
Jack maneuvered the ship slightly towards the left and wrapped it around a couple of loose mines that had wandered off their original path. "Rige, get Jean up here." Rige nodded in agreement with Jack's request. "Jean. Jack needs you on the bridge." She announced to the crew on the ship.
It didn't take long for her to find her way to the captain. "Yes, sir." She said as she entered the doorway. She was a way slender girl with a tight waist and long legs. Her hair was auburn, and she seemed to be the same species as Jack, humanoid.
"Jean, get to the control room and get us to full capacity in the quantum equalizers," Jack said as he never took his eyes off the debris outside the ship. Jean nodded and made a quick exit out the door, headed to the control room.
Ade was eagerly watching from the back. Her eyes were lighting up from the plasma cannon's fire, trying to clear a path. Her planet had no need for a war of this kind, war at all, really. The women of Feminae had always dealt in peace, love for one another. So, this was a rarity for the queen to see.
"Jack, we have an opening straight ahead. Look by the glow coming off that metal." Rige pointed out. Jack shook his head. "We have to wait for Jean to get us at equal stability." Rige looked at him and tried to figure out what he was planning. "But, if she doesn't, Jack, we will have to sidetrack through more debris."
Jack didn't say anything; he just kept his gaze out into open space. He knew he and his crew had very little time before that opening would be gone. But what did his father always say? "Remember, as a captain, it is not your duty to think rationally. Most of the time, that will get you killed. Make the tough decisions. The ones that require faith. Trust your crew. One day, Jack, you will have a crew, trust them completely." Passion and faith are what Jack ran off of it, simply because his father told him to.
He sat there staring out the window, hoping against all rational hope, that Jean's voice would come over the intercom before the opportunity was lost.
"Brim, everyone is braced and in position. Any follow up orders?" Shin-To came over the intercom. "No. Yes, actually get to plasma cannon one and assist them with reloading." Jack shouted out louder than he should've. Adrenaline was running high.
About two minutes now, they would have to divert all the engine's power into turning and redirecting course. "Jack…." Rige moaned. "Give her time, kid." He moaned back. "Thrusters are at sixty percent viability," Rige announced. "We aren't going to make it." She finished.
In times of desperation, where you can see salvation and redemption in the windshield, just up the horizon, you become defeated. You lose all sense of hope and faith and run, instinctively on logic.
With only one minute left on the ticking clock that presented itself, Ade started to question how good Jack Brim really was? He is making irrational decisions based on nothing but faith and hope. How has he lived this long? Will this be the downfall of a great ruler?
"JACK! THE EQUALIZER ARE AT MAXIMUM CAPACITY, AND WE ARE STABILIZED." Jean announced to much delight over the ship. Jack closed his eyes and breathed a big sigh of relief. "Okay. Rige, aim for the opening. Get us out of this mess." Jack said with his eyes still closed.
Rige was always surprised by how much luck came with Jack's arrogance. They had faced death many times since her first mission with him. And on too many occasions, did death come seeking Jack Brim. "Once again. You smile at death…. And death runs away." Rige said as she patted him on the back.
Jack took off his seat belt and stood up to glance at Ade. "So, are you ready to go finish our conversation? Still, much to say and much to drink." He said to her as he extended his hand. She looked at him with a look of shock on her face. She still hadn't caught up with the adrenaline, the endorphins. She took his hand as he helped her up.
Jack turned back to face Rige. "Sport, go ahead and let Shin-To know that we are out of emergency protocol." Rige nodded her head before they made their disappearance. She turned her head to look at the little debris she had to get through. Her mind suddenly went to Shin-To. She loved him so much, but she owed Jack everything. She couldn't disobey him like that. What if she confided in him? Asked for permission? She shook her head. Had to focus.
"Shin-To. Emergency Protocol disbanded." She announced to the ship. "We will be making our push out of danger and into the open of space… Please stand by." She finished.
The queen was still on an adrenaline high as they made their way back to the quarters. If he wanted her out of her comfort zone and not on her top game, he succeeded. "What do you want to ask?" he asked. "I saw it in your eyes as we made our push towards the crease with little time to spare." He finished.
Ade looked at him and tried to regain her composure. "How did you know that she would get it just in time?" He looked at her and smirked. "You didn't even think of the possibility that if she hadn't, we wouldn't have made it through. You were ruthlessly arrogant in your ability." She finished.
"Faith, not arrogance." He said as he stopped and waited for the lift that took them to her quarters' level. "What's the difference?" she questioned. "Not much, but faith wasn't in me. It was in the ability of my crew." He said. "You see if we would've taken that route and not attempted to make it through. Yeah, we would've been guaranteed safety, sure. But, it would have taken seven more days." He said as she had a look of indifference. "Seven days doesn't sound like a lot when you are on your planet, ruling with an iron fist. But, in space, seven days is the difference in rations depleting. The chances of a fatal malfunction occurring… You see, in my eyes, we didn't have the allotted time. We had now, and my faith couldn't be shaken because they look to me to provide that faith."
She nodded in complete awe and understanding. She crossed her arms and bit her lower lip. "You don't win a lot of wars on faith." She said. He chuckled. "You don't survive a lot of them on logic." He retorted back.
"Survival… Is that your only goal? No other ambitions?" He looked over at her and wondered where this was going. "Well, doing what I do, there really isn't any other thought than survival." He said as they exited the lift. "Do you dream of anything besides survival?" He could tell where she was going with this, but he let her continue anyway. "Do you dream of children? A normal life, perhaps. A life where you aren't on the run?" she finished.
They got to the door of the quarters, and he extended his hand in a notion for her to go first. There sat the two glasses that they had started on earlier that evening. "I've been asked that question many times." He said as he sat down and pour himself another glass. He proposed the bottle to her as if asking if she would like another. "More poison?" he asked. She waved him off.
"And the answer you always give?" she asked as she watched him gulp the brown liquid. "I don't," he said. "I don't give an answer." He continued to explain. She looked at him and sat down beside him again on the bed.
"Is this part of the character you play?" she asked. "The take nothing pirate who answers to no one?" He placed his glass down on the table and poured a little bit more into the glass. "Should you drink that much, that fast?" she asked, never given him a chance to answer the question before.
"Doll, don't tell me how to drink, and I won't tell you that you are way off on me." He said as he threw another glass back. "I get the feeling you're the kind of woman that gets her jollies off of being right." He finished.
"Jollies?" she said in an offended voice. "You have a great military mind. Flawed, but a great one." She said as she took the bottle away from him. "Why do you stay in a business of information? Why do you feed your demons?" she finished.
He leaned back in the chair. "Because if I don't feed them… They will devour me." He said as he took the bottle out of her hand and poured himself another glass. "What happened to the men on your planet? You never answered." He said as he sipped slowly on this glass. Preserving the taste, maybe… Or slowly killing the buzz.
"Okay." She said. "My planet has flourished for centuries, doing one thing." He intently watched her mouth as she talked. "Feminae has practiced gender control for the life of its environment. One sex, one kingdom, one goal." She said.
He was another glass when he interrupted her, "What about your basic needs? What about reproduction?" he questioned. She then poured herself a glass and threw it back. "We allow men to visit our planet. They can come and go as they please, and we, women, take advantage of their presence." She explained.
He watched her as she swallowed another glass. "What about the males born of your planet?" he asked. "What happens to them?" She looked out the window, and all signs of debris were gone. "No male can be born on the planet. None has been born in the history of Feminae." She said and noticed he was confused. She poured him and her another glass.
"How?" he said. "That goes against all biology." He finished. He twirled his glass around for a moment as he awaited her answer. "It's a pheromone that is released into the water supply and vegetation." She took a drink. "Our people eat and drink of the waters of life, and they shall always have feminine children." She finished.
"No male can ever be born of the planet of Feminae?" he questioned as he folded his hands together and leaned forward. "There is a prophecy. It has been passed down from generations of royalty." She informed.
The room fell silent, and a cold chill went down his spine. Some prophetic is never coincidental. There is always some form of logic behind it.
"A male child will be born of royal and passionate love." She recited. He leaned back and grabbed up his glass. Took a sip and scratched his head. "That has never happened in the history of your planet?" he asked. "A royal and a passionate lover." She shook her head. "It isn't just a passionate lover; no, we��ve had those. Both parties must be incomplete, euphoric passion." She took another drink. "Sex for us is strictly for reproduction."
He raised his glass once again in salute. "Sex, for me, is a carnal need." He finished. "So, these men. They don't stay, try to colonize?" he wondered out loud. She shook her head and took another big drink. By this time, she was already starting to feel the effects of the concoction.
"No. They sometimes stay, most of the time." She said. "Why not try to colonize? And where are these men that, most of the time, try to stay?" he asked. His immunity to alcohol was giving him the upper hand.
"Well, the truth?" she asked. He shook his head, "Yes." She took another drink. "The pheromones. They hypnotize them, make them under our control. They crave it, need it." She said. He smiled. "Quite a business you have there, doll."
He got up and walked over to the window. "That doesn't explain what happened to the men. They become your slaves? Your economic drive? What?" he asked as he kept his gaze fixed on the stars.
"Five years." She said. He turned around and looked at her. "Five years?" she nodded. "That's how long we allow a set of men to stay on our planet. So, every fifth anniversary, we cleanse the planet."
His eyes hardened on her. "What do you mean, you cleanse it?" She dropped her head down to view her lap. "We kill any remaining men on the planet's surface." She explained. "You got your information, Jack." She said. "Now, tell me, how long have you wanted to be out of this business?" she asked.
Jack shook his head and place his glass down. "A little over nine years." He answered. She stood up and stumbled over to him. "Then come back with me and lead an army. We did not contact you because of pirates." He studied her face. "I'm a man. Three-quarters of my crew are men. We would only be welcomed every five years, and then we face the threat of elimination?" he questioned.
She shook her head. "No, we need your help. The threat that our planet faces is one of great tragedy. The pirates that we speak of have waged war against our peaceful nation." She said. "We need you to lead an army against them. You've beaten them before. We've heard the stories." She finished.
"What about the pheromones? The control?" he asked. "There is nothing we can do about that, but promise we will not abuse it." She said as she sat the glass down. "I serve no one but my crew." He said.
She shook her head, "This will be no different." She said. "You will serve your army. You will collaborate with me." She assured him. "What about your needs, our needs? Each one of my crew members deserves a normal life." He said.
"Well, as a royalty, I can't just reproduce with anyone. And I never met anyone worthy enough to help me produce an heir." She said as he watched her explain. "Your crew members will be given their choice of any one of our women; they will be treated like royalty. My royal army." She said.
"So, you're a virgin." He questioned. "Yes. A virgin in queen's clothing. I've longed for a man's touch, but I have a duty to uphold." She explained. She poured another glass and took a big gulp. "You are to be my first and father, my heir." She explained. "You will be the leader of the royal army." She finished.
"I've been calling you doll all night. You haven't mentioned a word of it; why?" he questioned her. She smiled. "I like it, but my people will see it as disrespect." He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.
"What do you say, Jack?" she questioned him. "Be the general of an army. The man, your father, saw you being." She finished. He waved her off... "This just isn't my decision. My crew gets a say." He said as he walked out of the room, but before he got all the way out… "Jack! Does it hurt?" he turned around and looked at her with confusion. "What is that, doll?" he said as he winked at her. "Being so close to what you want, you can see it pass you by?" she questioned. He shook his head, "No. I have experience in disappointment." He said. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow we explain this situation to my crew." He finished.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" she asked. "I've never been on a ship or outside of my atmosphere. "And you… You are scared of nothing." He laughed. "It's not that I'm not scared. I can't afford to give in to the fear." He said. "So, stay with me. Help me conquer the fear." She said. "Okay." Is all he said as he walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. "When you said let's see if the galaxy is big enough for the queen. Did you mean me?" he asked. Ade smiled.