Snippet 2 from Space Sisters: Starship

Here is a rather long snippet!

The historical building was on the north side of the campus, a large round domed building of warm red brick. It was the oldest building on the campus and once held the Senate. As a school child, Gia had visited the museum several times.

Professor Clell took them around to the rear. There was a rectangle seam in the lower concrete wall, no hinges or door handles. She produced an old fashioned metal key and slid it into a wider spot in the seam, barely visible. With a creek, the door cracked open. “We’re in. We will explain in a little while. It is important we move quickly.”

They went through a door made their way down narrow stairs to the basement, through the utility and storage areas of the museum. 

A man stepped in front of them, holding a file box. “What are you doing in here?”

All reaction, no thought, Gia swung the pipe she had kept with her even after they left the city.  He fell, unconscious. She rolled him over. “He looks familiar.” The last time she’d seen him at been junior year at the academy. “Davos Valrissian. The traitor,” she spat.

She looked at Pandora, who stared at the man in shock.  “Isn’t he your betrothed, Pandora?”

“Was. After the Hunter uprising, my dad ended it. He thought that was too brutal, killing all those children. His father Veldar Valrissian was obviously one of the leaders. Dad didn’t want me that close to the war.”

“So, do you think he’ll cause trouble?” Martina asked.

“I don’t know.”

“He won’t stay unconscious forever,” Gia said. “Maybe we can tie him up?”

“I can find some twine,” Esme said. She headed back.

“Wait, don’t go alone.”

“Right, good idea.” Martina and Pandora followed her. The three returned a short time later with a roll of thick twine and a pair of large steel scissors. They tied him up tight and gagged him with a scarf.

“I wonder what he was doing down here,” Esme said. 

“He’s trying to find...our discovery,” Professor Clell whispered.  “The Valrissians know about our history. They have extensive family records. Years ago my father corresponded with Kal’s grandfather. Lord Targston must be on the trail. Which makes him a huge liar, since the Dominion doesn’t believe we originated off this planet.”

Gia reached over and explored Davos’ clothing.

“Goddess above.” She pulled a small tube out of his pocket. “A needler. I wonder what is in it.” She popped the cartridge out. 

“545 Solution.”

There was group indrawn breath as she held up the poison.

“A lethal dose. Illegal as hell.”

“I think we should take him with us, keep him safely tied up,” Gia said. “We’ll figure out what to do with him later.” She wrapped the cartridge and needler separately with clothing and put them in a pocket of the bag.

Martina handed out a pair of scissors to everyone. “These can be used as a weapon. We also have tapestry needles. They could be nasty in a fight.”

All of them slid a tapestry needle into a sleeve or hem.

“Thanks, Martina. Good thinking,” Professor Clell said.  “Hopefully we won’t run into anyone else.”

They followed Professor Clell, with Pandora and Shawn dragging the prisoner. They came to a metal cupboard against a wall. 

“Quickly, we need to remove the contents and the shelves. Quietly, too.” Professor Clell said.

Working together they soon had it clear and the shelves stacked on the floor.

In the back of the cupboard was a door. Professor Clell again used a metal key. “I found the keys in my father’s things after he died. I searched for two years down here to find the door, father didn’t say where it was. The textile department has its own staircase to a storage room in the basement. I could slip down here with no one noticing.”

“No one pays attention to textile students. We’re just here to keep us busy until our parents marry us off.” Esme said. Gia remembered she was one of the smartest students at the Academy. The law concerning women only being allowed to take domestic degrees like Culinary Arts or Home Decor had been passed five years ago.

The door opened to a narrow concrete staircase. They went down, Martina holding the front of Professor Clell’s floating chair so it wouldn’t scrape the walls. It wasn’t dark because light came up from below. The stairs ended in a room lit by an oval platform with a glowing, neon blue line of lights around the base.

“All right. Are we ready to do this?” Professor Clell asked.

“Yes. Our future here is bleak,” Esme said. 

“Do what?” Gia asked. “What is this?”

“It is the particle transport. It will take us to Captain Emory’s space ship,” Esma said.

“You’re joking.” 

 “No,” Professor Clell said. “This was my father’s life’s work, but he never found it. We all gathered information from our family records in order to find it and use it.”

The others nodded. 

“Forced marriage is already thrust upon us,” Martina said. “The betrothal contracts our mothers’ had at least gave them some protection. We will have none.”

  “Servanthood if we rebel, near slavery. That is the future mapped out for us under Lord Targston’s regime.”

Gia stared at them all in shock. “You really think this will work?”

“Yes,” Professor Clell said. “You don’t have to come with us. But we might be able to help our families and stay safe ourselves.”

Gia looked at them all. Maybe they were crazy.

“We hope, “ Esme said. She and her sister sat down on the oval platform.