Chapter 12

Chapter 12

G regory Ryan stood before them, a weapon in each hand. She didn’t have so much as a club to defend herself with. He’d come after her alone.

“I’m disappointed in you, Jack,” her father said. The bitterness in his voice caused her to cringe. “It’s not like you to get yourself embroiled in the problems of another being. You tend to like machines better than people.”

Jack mumbled something to himself she couldn’t comprehend. Her father’s focus was once again on someone or something other than her.

“Where are you, Titus?” Cassidy asked. “I’ve run out of time. My father has me and a friend pinned down in the engine room.”

“Turn around, boss,” she heard VIC say.

She automatically turned her head, moving her gaze from her father’s face. Branson and two of his heavily armed commandos joined her. VIC was at Branson’s feet wearing a laser-equipped vest. The Siamese cat looked royally ticked off.

“How sweet,” her father said. “Cassidy’s army has arrived. It’s smaller than I had expected. It shouldn’t surprise me since The Fury is such a small gem.”

“Let us go and you won’t be harmed,” Cassidy said.

Her father laughed. “Oh, my girl, you should see your lover’s face. He senses I’m not alone. You never should’ve left the bridge of your ship. Playing the role of a spy hasn’t been your forte.”

The thundering of boots against metal gratings echoed around her. She’d been led into a trap just as her crew arrived. Her father raised his weapon and fired. Cassidy dove behind one of the crates of engine parts cluttering the area. As she fell, she took Jack with her.

She moaned as her body hit the engine room’s hard floor. Jack landed on top of her, having shifted positions as they fell. His older body would’ve been more adversely impacted by the impact than hers.

“I should’ve left you alone, Cassidy,” Jack cried. “Stupid me, leading you into a trap. Your father must have known I had a weak spot for you. He mentioned you once in passing. I was the one who continually brought you up. I don’t have a family of my own.”

“Are you all right, Cassidy?” Branson shouted.

“I’m fine,” she yelled back. “We’ve managed to get ourselves trapped.”

“Don’t you know me by now, kitten?” her lover responded.

Commander Branson would never blindly enter a space without thought and an exit strategy. He’d used his three bombs aboard the space station, but she imagined he had a number of goodies left in his inventory that would result in his signature talent for blowing things up.

“Patience, boss,” VIC cautioned her. “When I give the word, you run like hell down the hall behind you. The Fury is docked and Titus will release the ship after we’re aboard. Just run and don’t turn to see all the fireworks that are planned.”

The odds were they’d get blown to smithereens before they were able to reach her ship. All sorts of explosions went off in her mind. Only a single shot had been fired so far and nothing had been blown up.

“Commander Goody, I presume,” her father shouted. “Your reputation precedes you. I should’ve figured out the consortium would send you. Our little space station paid the price of my short-sightedness. Bringing my daughter along for the ride had been a genius move. Why don’t you return to your ship and leave Cassidy behind? We’ll call our little skirmish a draw.”

Branson knew from the start they were after her father and she had been a tool to an end. There were no coincidences. From the very beginning, she knew that, but chose to ignore it.

“Sorry, Ryan,” Branson shouted back. “I plan to keep your daughter. Best compensation I’ve ever received for a job. She turned out to become a remarkable woman regardless of her genetic origins. Kitten, there are about to be a lot of fireworks. When you get the word, run like the hounds of hell are after you.”

She ignored the compensation part of what Branson said and her heart warmed at the feelings he’d communicated. The nickname was even growing on her.

“Did you hear that, Jack?” she asked. “You follow me and don’t look back.”

If they were both lucky, they’d only suffer minor wounds. The bio-bed aboard her ship would deal with them once they were on their way. She couldn’t force the old man to join her.

“This Goody fellow has quite a reputation,” Jack said. “I’ll be right behind you, covering your ass.”

Cassidy had taken the brunt of the fall and now Jack pretty much communicated that he’d act as a shield in her escape. She knew they were in the quiet before the storm and chaos would soon erupt.

Laser fire came from behind her, targeting several positions. She held her position, waiting for VIC’s signal. It wouldn’t be an all-clear, that was for sure. If she set off now, she’d be riddled with laser fire.

Several explosions occurred, rocking the area below her feet. The flooring cracked but held together. There didn’t appear a breach that would threaten the area’s pressurization. It would only be a matter of time if the explosions continued.

“ Run, now, boss, ” VIC communicated as another set of explosions impacted the area.

She moved after tapping Jack on the shoulder. It would be his decision if he wanted to remain behind the barrier or run into the line of fire. Doing nothing was also risky if the engine room lost its atmosphere and outside space contaminated the area.

Her body moved without thought. A sharp pain along her shoulder blades didn’t slow her progress. She noted Quinn waiting ahead of her. Her earlier thoughts she had about him being a perfect shield because of his size came back to her. There was only one way she could stop Quinn from sacrificing himself for her and that was to stop. Her feet continued forward, regardless of what her brain shouted within her head.

Another explosion brought her to her knees. Before she could ascertain her condition, someone lifted her to her feet and pushed her forward. Regardless of the explosions, the laser fire continued. Several more bouts of searing pain impacted her back but didn’t stop her forward momentum. The contact scorched her skin but didn’t cause blood to run down her back. None of the lasers had come in contact with her head or her muscular thighs.

The hallway, her destination, was only several steps away when someone grabbed her from behind and halted her progress. From the strength of the arms that held her, she knew it wasn’t Jack who dragged her behind a barricade.

She didn’t have to see his green eyes to know her father had his arms around her. Her gaze traveled to Jack’s prone, lifeless body just short of where Gregory Ryan had stopped her escape. Quinn crawled ahead of her, seeking shelter. Their escape plan had failed.

***

Cassidy struggled to be released but her father’s hold was too strong. His grip on her only tightened when two more explosions threatened to vent the whole area. They were no longer moving through space. The engines had been neutralized.

When she noted Quinn no longer moved, she felt the fight drain from her body. They had been defeated by a larger army, one led by her father. She’d known deep in her soul they hadn’t stood a chance of winning. At least the man who held her didn’t gloat.

Her mind was blank. She couldn’t think of the bleak future ahead of her. To Gregory Ryan, she was just the fruit of his loins.

Tears ran down her cheeks at the thought of communicating through their pathway a final good-bye to her cats. In her embarrassment, she brushed the moisture from her face. She knew without asking her punishment for betraying her father would be The Fury’s ultimate destruction along with her beloved felines.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement and then a laser beam sliced at her father’s arm. The arm that held her captive.

Gregory Ryan cried out in pain and released her. She moved away from him as the laser continued to cut a deep gash into his arm. The red beam adjusted as he struggled to escape its destructive wake.

A sense of relief washed over her as the source of the beam came into view. VIC’s laser-fueled vest still reached its target as the cat moved closer to his victim. If any of her father’s men were in the vicinity, they didn’t attempt to stop VIC from finishing his mission.

It was now tears of joy that ran down her cheeks.

Branson appeared behind VIC and knelt beside her. “You, all right?”

She nodded. “I am now.” Her voice shook with overwhelming emotions Cassidy didn’t attempt to hide.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said. “Tell your cat to release your father.”

Hatred seeped through her soul as she stared at her father. His arm was almost severed from his shoulder.

“ Finish up what you must and then return to the ship, VIC, ” she communicated.

There were aspects of the implants she never reported to GS. Cats could be vindictive, but never enacted revenge or vengeance. Her cats were now capable of deeper emotions and she reveled in VIC’s ability to act as he saw fit.

“I think I need to be placed on a med-bed,” Cassidy said as she collapsed into Branson’s arms. ”VIC will join us when he’s done here.”

“Your cats will make sure your father never comes after you,” Branson commented as he lifted her into his arms and carried her toward The Fury .

“They’ll make it so neither you nor I will be plagued with the consequences of the action,” she shared. “VIC won’t have problems sleeping at night. What he does today won’t haunt him.”

She didn’t know if VIC would finish off her father or leave him a physical warning of what will happen if he ever attempts to deal with The Fury or its crew again.

Another set of tears were generated as soon as Branson stepped onto her ship. Oliver and Reg followed carrying Quinn’s body. There wasn’t any opposition to their retreat. Her father’s crew had escaped to a safer portion of the ship. Alarms sounded as soon VIC jumped onto The Fury .

“ Docking doors are closed and we’re pulling away, ” Titus announced as Branson removed her clothing and placed her on the bio-bed. “ Just in time, the engine room’s atmosphere has been totally compromised. Survivors have sealed off the area, but their ship is dead in space. ”

“Branson, you need to contact GS or your government contacts so they can salvage the ship and its crew,” she said as she closed her eyes and let the bed work its magic on her.

“I’ll have the message relayed,” Branson responded. “Titus has coordinates for a space station with an advanced medical facility.”

Cassidy opened her eyes in terror. “I’m that bad off?”

He chuckled. “No, you’ll be fine. I’m going to have those damned neurotransmitters implanted in my brain. Reg and Oliver will have it done as well.”

She frowned. “Why would you go through all of that when the mission’s over?”

Branson sat on the edge of the bed and took her into his arms.

“This particular mission may be over, but our time together has just begun,” Branson said. “Our employers believe we make a great team and I happen to agree. The Fury is now the first privately held craft in the government’s fleet. Galactic Solutions has transferred the title to you. Reg and Oliver want to stay and we’ll have to replace Mendez, Quinn, and Wendell Parker.”

“Wendell was the spy?” she asked.

“Yes, the cats took care of him after he unsuccessfully attempted to kill Reg,” he informed her. “He’s being held in stasis in the quarters we were forced to vent. We’ll also have to repair that unit when we’re at the space station.”

“You just can’t trust anyone who’s allergic to cats,” Cassidy replied.

In the end, she’d mourn her father for what could’ve been between them if he’d been a different type of man. She was no longer at the beck and call of Galactic Solutions, but now had to deal with the consortium government. If their missions dealt with retaining peace in the galaxy, she’d be able to deal with the changes. With her cats and Branson along for the ride, anything was possible.

The End