BORN OF HEROES

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 59
 

Candace Learner had to admit that the Ascendant Angel was a well run ship. Granted the amenities weren’t as luxurious as one of the more reputable starliners that plied the routes between the worlds of the Planetary Alignment, but the crew attempted to make up for that by being friendly and there were quite a few diversions on the recreation deck. One of the more interesting pastimes, when the she-wolf wasn’t running laps around the second deck, were the calisthenics the male wolf, Randal, supervised with the other crew members, or even the hand to hand combat training he and the Kastan taught.

  By the beginning of the second week Candace was looking for a distraction of a different nature. At the end of that week she was almost desperate for companionship. Unfortunately it seemed that almost the entire crew was paired off in one way or another limiting her options drastically. Normally her drives weren’t this severe, though it might have had something to do with her medication running out a few days prior. She forgot how empowered being off her medications made her feel. This also led to being far more assertive and allowing base needs and drives to dictate her actions.

  The she-wolf’s thoughts became even more fixated on her desires as she finished her eighth lap around the deck for her daily workout, deciding that she’d run enough and headed for her cabin to shower and change of clothes when opportunity seemed to materialize right before her causing a visceral thrill to run through her. Her mundane, unaltered ancestors would recognize the emotion as the same thing when a successful hunt ended in a kill.

  “Excuse me,” Candace said, swallowing once and getting her breathing under control, something that was far more difficult without her prescription. “Would you be able to help me with a minor adjustment to the temperature controls on my shower unit?”

  The squirrel smiled widely. “Absolutely, ma’am!” Sabine replied brightly, her dark eyes shining. “I didn’t get to your cabin before we lifted, and I’m not sure if Baxter checked it out. I hope it hasn’t been a problem.”

  The she-wolf waved the young female in with an overly warm smile, covertly locking the hatch as soon as they were both inside. As Candace watched the squirrel head to the lavatory she retrieved the sash of her lounging robe and concealed it behind her back. “No, I’d just prefer to get the water a little…hotter,” the wolf said in a low voice, almost on the edge of a growl.

  “Well, let’s see what we can see,” Sabine replied, she got to her knees to open the access port and inspect the thermal control unit, unaware of the way the vixen looked at her as she knelt to access the plumbing.

  The single scream of surprise went unheard by the rest of the individuals on the ship.

***

   Nodding in satisfaction, Lena finished running her standard diagnostic on her fighter and was wrapping up the leads from the maintenance DataPak to stow in its locker when a sound caught her attention. Randy was in the cabin they shared, fast asleep having come off a double shift so Elias and Cerise could spend more time with their children and with each other. He’d had enough strength to enter their cabin, undress, giving Lena a warm kiss before falling into bed. No sooner had his head hit the pillow than he was snoring lightly.

  No one else should be down in the cargo or engineering section as it was late in the ship’s night cycle and she became concerned when she heard the noise again. It definitely came from the engine section through the open hatch and Lena put the DataPak away before investigating the sound.

  Between one of the workbenches and a large toolbox was Sabine. The squirrel was huddled as far back as she could get, her thick brush of a tail pushed up against the bulkhead and draped over her left shoulder, knees drawn up and hid her face in her arms. Lena knelt down and touched her gently.

  “Hey, Sab? You okay?”

  Thinking she was alone and not having heard the doe enter, Sabine screamed in reaction to the touch which caused Lena to scream as well.

  “Geez, Sabine!” the doe exclaimed, plopping onto her bum in the middle of the deck, her hand on her chest.

  The squirrel batted at her eyes with balled up fists and tried to compose herself before folding up and crying even harder.

  “Hey, now,” Lena said softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you and I’m sorry I yelled.” She tried to sooth the red squirrel and gave the other female a curious look as she huddled tighter in on herself. “Did…did someone say something to upset you? Are you hurt?”

  Sabine shook her head and eventually got her tears under control, wiping at her eyes with a rag that she had in a back pocket. When she looked up at the doe she began to cry all over again. “I’m a bad person!” the squirrel wailed and curled back up.

  “What? What makes you say that Sab? Did you accidentally break something?” She watched as the other female slowly shook her head. “Is something wrong with the ship?” Another head shake. Lena tried to inject a little humor. “Are we going to blow up? I hate blowing up.”

  “No…” the squirrel said weakly. When she lifted her head again the thin line of furless skin around her eyelids was puffy and irritated. “I’m going to get kicked off the ship! Everybody’s gonna hate me!” Sabine whispered.

  “Why would we hate you?” Lena asked, genuinely confused. “I don’t hate you. I think you’re one of the coolest furs I’ve ever met. You’re a great mechanic and we’re lucky to have you-”

  As she looked at the young mechanic, Lena felt her blood grow cold as the fur on her spine stood on end. On the edge of the squirrel’s right ear were red welts that looked like teeth marks and around her wrists the fur had been pulled away and the skin beneath was red and swollen. The doe swallowed hard and took a deep, calming breath.

  “Sabine,” Lena said softly, her voice almost a whisper, “who did this to you?”

  The squirrel sobbed harder. “I…I can’t say be-bec-c-cause I-I-I’ll g-get kicked off the sh-ship!”

  Slipping her DataCom from her belt, the doe triggered the send control. “Elias, I need you in engineering right now,” she said softly.

  “What’s wrong?” the fox’s groggy voice came back after a moment.

  “I think…I think someone’s assaulted or…or raped Sabine.”

***

   Elias made it to engineering in near record time and found Lena curled up in the little nook between the bulkhead and toolbox holding the weeping squirrel. “Sabine? Hey,” he said softly, his eyes full of concern. “What happened, kiddo? Who did this to you?”

  The squirrel closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, rocking back and forth a little, her whimpers making her sound pitiful and wrenching at the white fox’s heart.

  “She thinks if she tells us she’ll get kicked off the ship,” Lena told her friend, her eyes flashing dangerously.

  “What?” Elias asked, a frown appearing. He knelt down and tried to assume a nonthreatening and caring expression and used a gentle tone when he spoke. “No, sweetie. Not at all. You’re part of my crew and that means you’re part of a very special family. You’re not going to get kicked off the ship. You don’t have to leave until you want to.”

  The squirrel looked up and squinted, her raw, ravaged eyes blinking slowly. “Really?” she asked meekly, still trembling.

  “Really,” Elias said firmly. “I need my peanut butter stealing mechanic.” The crew had discovered that Sabine was an avid lover of peanut butter, to the point of near addiction, and had a hard time keeping it in stock. He held out his arms to her and Sabine all but flung herself at her Captain, latching on to him in fear and confusion as she mewled pitifully. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “You’re not going to get kicked off the ship. I promise.” He held her and gently stroked her hair as he rocked her. “Let’s get you to the infirmary and have Doc Lem look at you, okay?”

  Sabine nodded, curling into a little ball, still sobbing softly as Elias scooped her up and headed to the lift.

***

   Lemuel exited the examination room, putting the test kit with the evidence he’d collected in a refrigeration unit and looked at his Captain. Keena was sitting in the room with the squirrel along with Lena and were soothing the young female and demonstrating their support of her.

  “All of the injuries are congruent with that kind of…assault, Elias.” The tiger said quietly and shook his head. “She’s been violated.”

  “Apart from the obvious, is she going to be okay?” the fox asked.

  Lem shrugged. “The physical damage is fairly mild, and there will be some discomfort for a couple of days, but as far as the psychological damage…” he shrugged, “I don’t know. Most of us know that things like this can happen to any of us at any time, but Sabine isn’t as used to the darker side the way we are. I think Keena can help her, and Lena’s using her own experiences to assist. I think if Sabine discovers that she’s not alone, which is the big problem right now, it’ll help quite a bit.”

  “Lena’s been through this?” Elias asked, not knowing that about his First Officer.

  “It’s not something that she bandies about very often, but yes. She’s been there, and was a lot younger than poor Sabine when it happened.” Lem turned his head and saw the other two females leaning close to the engineer, all three smiling, the squirrel weakly, while Lena brushed the red squirrel’s hair back in an affectionate manner.

  Elias shook his head. He never would have guessed at what he’d been told. “Now to figure out what to do about Ms. Learner,” he said, the she-wolf’s name leaving a sour taste in his mouth that made his lip curl, exposing his teeth.

  “I know she’ll need to be turned in, but I should let you know that one of the conditions that precipitated the attack is Ms. Learner ran out of her prescription for Keldimide. It’s often prescribed for those that have personality disorders or emotional issues. In her case she’s suffering FRD. Feral Regressive Disorder causes the individual to act more on basic drives and urges instead of behaving in what we would consider a normal, coherent manner. In this case, Candace Learner is acting more like a mundane wolf, and her behavior is dictated by her need to assert herself as a dominant, an Alpha female, and when coupled with her preferences in companionship…it was only a matter of time before she targeted one of the females that she saw as weaker than her.

  “I don’t think this would have happened if she hadn’t run out of her medication, though there was always the option of seeing me. I had some in stock…enough to keep her from getting worse, but she’ll need to go under the care of a physician and psychiatrist when we arrive on Fyn.”

  “I’ll put it in my log. As it is I’ll have to forward that information to the SPF representative that’ll be meeting us at the starport,” Elias informed his friend. “We have Ms. Learner confined to her cabin for the duration, and I think I’d like it if you had a look at her. If she’s a threat to herself as well, we’ll have to sedate and confine her to the infirmary.”

  Lemuel nodded. “You won’t hear me argue.”

  The conversation stopped as Lena appeared in the doorway with her arm around Sabine, guiding the other female. “If you need her, Sab will be in mine and Randy’s cabin, okay?”

  Elias shrugged, his expression and slight nod of approval telling her, ‘Do what you need to,’ before stepping up to the squirrel. “Don’t forget the rest of us are here for you, too,” he said to the young engineer, giving her a warm smile.

  “Thanks, Captain,” Sabine replied softly, the hint of a return smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, though she immediately went back to looking at the carpeted deck. Her smile grew a little more prominent when Elias tousled her hair before the rabbit led her out of the infirmary.

  “And here I was thinking that going into business for ourselves would keep us away from this kind of crap,” the fox muttered before heading to the galley for a cup of coffee. As he passed the hatch to Randal and Lena’s cabin before it slid closed, he saw the couple add the squirrel to their hug, the wolf with an oddly protective look for both females.

  If there was anyone on board that could make the young mechanic feel safe, it was the wolf and rabbit pair. Elias took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he stepped into the lift. Sonja and Olin were on the deck and the Spaniel looked up with a questioning look when the white fox exited on the third deck.

  “Is Sabine okay?” the female asked in genuine concern, her brow furrowed.

  “Lena’s taking care of her with Randy’s help, but I think she’ll be alright,” Elias said, impressed with how far Sonja had come since he first interviewed her for a position on his crew so long ago and the concern she showed for the rest of the individuals on the ship. “We’ll have some of Sandy’s people run her through some mental hygiene when we hit Joplin.” He took a step towards the coffee urn before pausing to swear. “Forgot my cup,” he muttered, rubbing at his eyes.

  “El, go on back to bed. I can spell you on the bridge,” Sonya said with a hand on her Captain’s shoulder. “There’s enough of us and you’ve already had a full morning.”

  “Are you sure?”

  The Spaniel smiled widely. “Hey, what are friends for? I know how to read a console as well as you and I don’t have any other duties until tomorrow’s cycle. I got this.”

  “The boyfriend won’t mind, will he?” Elias asked with a sardonic expression as he tossed a thumb over his shoulder.

  “No. He doesn’t,” Olin said in an exaggerated whisper from right behind the fox, catching his Captain off guard and held out half a cup of coffee with a fresh out of the oven bacon and cheese turnover. “Besides, Sonja was talking about getting me some training on our systems so I can help cover watches,” the wolf-Chow mix informed his employer. “Can’t have too many people knowing what to do if something happens.”

  Elias smiled as he accepted the cup and pastry. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I’ve got the best crew in the entire Planetary Alignment.”

— NEXT CHAPTER —

Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.