Prelude to War: Winds of Darkness, Chapter Three

(And part three. Last of the pre-written segments. Stay tuned!)

Night fell aboard Fury's Heart. Unlike the night of a Federation starship, with dimmed lighting, the Cervan bioship glowed blue in her corridors. Troya had been relieved by a junior guard for the night; Clio wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing just yet. The young guard had her back to the cell. Unwise, Clio thought, amused.

Of course, there was still the young officer guarding the door to get out of the brig area itself to deal with, if she could even get the ship to release her from the cell.

Knowing that Adonia shared an intimate connection with Fury's Heart, Clio nonetheless caressed the bulkhead next to the bunk, trying to tap into the ship's conscious mind.

The bioship resisted. No. You cannot come in.

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Prelude to War: Winds of Darkness, Chapter Two

(Part two. You can tell these chapters are already written can't you?)

“The Empress wishes to see you.”

Clio just stared at the female guard on the other side of the force field. Interesting how it's “The Empress” and not “your mother”, “Empress Eneas” or “Empress Adonia”. She didn't even move from where she lounged across the provided bunk, her hand resting lightly on the bulkhead. “I have nothing to say to the Empress. You can tell her that.”

“She said you'd say that.” A second guard moved into Clio's field of vision. “She also said to convince you. If necessary.”

“Really.” Clio raised an eyebrow at them. “And how do you plan to do that?”

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Prelude to War: Winds of Darkness, Chapter One

(Obviously this is the beginning of a story arc that will be posted here over time as it grows and develops.)

Clio groaned quietly and rubbed her head as she sat up from the deck. She didn’t remember what had happened or, more importantly, how she’d gotten there, but she recognized the interior of a Cervan bioship. The ship’s sentient mind tugged at the periphery of Clio’s muted telepathic senses. She’d just gotten her senses in order when she saw someone standing at the brig force field, smirking at her. The Cervan woman seemed oddly familiar, even though Clio was certain that they’d never met. There were several seconds of tense silence between them as Clio tried to figure out what was so familiar about her captor.

“You don’t know who I am,” the other woman remarked, somewhat amused. “What a shame. We could have had such fun together, Clio.”

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