False Colors

Ciara floated along until the headache brought her back to reality with a bang. Nearly rolling off the couch, she started to sit up.

“Whoa, there, Ciara.” A man’s voice came. Ciara whipped her head toward him, and was immediately alarmed. What was a stranger doing in her living room?

“Can’t rush these things. I need my first mate in top condition.”

First mate? That was wrong. Ciara almost knew why, but that was wrong. She regarded this stranger, and tested the waters.

“Captain.” She said.

“Correct. I am your Captain Morris.” Captain Morris steepled his fingers, waiting patiently for her to catch up.

Ciara sat up, and put her bare feet on the floor. The floor vibrated beneath her. She was on a ship. She stared at Captain Morris. Was she supposed to know that? Yes. He had called her his first mate.

“Why do I feel...” Ciara wondered how to finish her question without giving too much away.

“Your head?” Captain Morris nodded sympathetically. “There was a mutiny.”

“Mutiny!” Ciara tried to stand, but fumbled back down to her seat.

“It’s all been settled now.” Captain Morris assured her. “They’ve been locked up, where they should be.”

“No good space scum.” Ciara grumbled. She caught a flash of anger from Captain Morris before she buried her face in her hands.

The vibrations in the floor were quieter now. They had stopped? Ciara knew the danger was far from over. Just how bad it was, she didn’t know. Captain Morris wasn’t likely to tell her. Not like this. Not with her head swirling with that familiar sensation from her training days.

“I was drugged.” She said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, you were.” Captain Morris leaned back in his easychair. Her easychair. This was her cabin. That knowledge gave Ciara strength. This was her turf.

“A prisoner faked a medical emergency and when they got to the infirmary, they stole drugs, and administered them to the high ranking members of the crew, myself included.”

“They must have had help.” Ciara curled a fist against her thigh.

“Things moved very quickly once the two crew members were overpowered.”

“I’ll review the protocols and surveillance video personally, Captain.”

“There’s time for that later. For now, if you’re feeling up to it, we have business on the bridge.”

Ciara laced up her boots and followed Captain Morris down the corridor. He had all the swagger of a man in charge.

Once on the bridge, she didn’t recognize anyone. Amnesia drugs could be powerful, but the only thing she recognized was the control panels. There was trash scattered next to the seats, and the crew were entirely too casual.

“Captain on deck!” Ciara announced. The crew watched Captain Morris. When he gave a slight nod, the men ambled their way to attention. It was deplorable. If it were her crew, they’d have been alert before having to make an announcement.

Ciara glanced at her own clothing. She was not her usual neatly arranged self. Mutiny could do that, she supposed.

Another man Ciara didn’t recognize cleared his throat before putting a chip in his mouth. “Incoming hail, Captain.” He glanced at Ciara, and swallowed his mouthful. “How do you want to handle it?”

“We answer, of course.” Captain Morris took a threatening tone. He shifted before smiling pleasantly at Ciara. “Would you be okay taking charge of this call?”

“Are you sure, Captain?”

“You’re better known with this particular branch of law enforcement.”

It sounded plausible. Perhaps. Ciara felt things coming to a head. These next few minutes were important. When the screen showed the inside of the other ship, she understood why.

“Ciara! I didn’t know you’d be back this way so soon.” It was her sister, Flora. Ciara smiled. Maybe everything would be okay. She had to be careful about this next bit.

“It wasn’t exactly planned.” Ciara said.

“What do you mean?” Flora’s smile vanished and her eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“We had a mutiny.”

“Oh, no! Are you okay?”

“Nothing a little chocolate can’t cure.”

“I see. Well, given what you’ve told me, we’ll have to board you and make an inspection of your ship.”

Captain Morris slammed his hand down on the call button. The screen went blank.

“What have you done, Ciara?”

“That’s Captain Forrest to you, idiot space scum!”

Morris gripped her by the wrist, and she immediately kicked him in the groin.

“Get her!” He growled. But Ciara was too fast for the rest of them. Undisciplined reprobates.

Ciara sped her way down the corridor. She’d never run so fast in her life. Another man stepped out into the hall and she slapped him with all her might and kept going even after he yelped and cursed at her.

The intercom system beeped.

“There’s nowhere to run, Ciara. We’ve got control of your ship.”

Ciara yanked open the door to the stairwell and kept going down. One deck after another. She reached the very bottom, and heard the deadbolts shut the door to the brig.

She thought this might happen. Ciara shucked off her boot, removed the heel, and out came the master key.

The ship’s engines were disabled. The other ship was likely right next to them, lining up the airlocks. It would still take too long.

She pressed the key to the reader outside the brig door. Her crew stood to attention in the cells. That was the proper way to do it.

Ciara went to the desk, and unlocked all the cells. “All right, boys and girls, let’s take back our ship and get these snakes back in their cages!”

“Captain, we have no weapons.” Her first mate reminded her.

“End of the hall.” Ciara unlocked a panel that slid back to reveal racks of blasters. A secret in case of mutiny contingency that Ciara had installed years ago.

“Grab me one, Matthew.”

Ciara’s first mate jogged down to the weapons charging in their cradles. She sat down and put her boot back together.

The weapons locker was closed over again, but Ciara’s job wasn’t done. She still had to lead the charge, and her head was pounding.

The sound of the airlocks being sealed was enough to make her knees go weak. Flora was on her way. Ciara looked over her crew. Some were hurt, but they all were determined to right this wrong.

They couldn’t take the elevators. It was too easy for the enemy to trap them. So up the stairs they went. Deck five was a mess.

As soon as they reached what was left of the battle, Flora met Ciara at the stairs and hugged her. Flora’s people took charge and made their way to the bridge, having to clear every single cabin before moving on.

“What took you so long?” Ciara gave her sister a gentle shove.

“Just be glad I remembered the chocolate incident from twenty years ago.” Flora felt Ciara’s head for bumps.

“I’ll be fine. Really. Thanks for coming to the rescue.”

“HOW?” Morris demanded over the intercom. “How did you know I wasn’t who I said I was?”

Ciara sauntered over to the intercom on the wall and pressed the button. She faced the nearest camera.

“I’m immune to the drug you gave me.” It had been part of her training. “And to your tricks.”