Star Law: A Marshal Cole Series

Prologue

Time is artificial in space. During flight, there is no sunrise or sunset. The daily light-dark cycle is determined by the planetary rotation. Human beings have endogenous biological clocks. Chronobiology is at a cellular level and regardless of where a human is the 24 hour cycle is followed via a pacemaker within the brain. A zeitbeger standard for space travel establishes an agreed upon point of reference. External clues help create the 24 hour cycle.

Aboard a passenger starship, night is created artificially by dimming the lights, lowering temperature and using a clock that determines day from night. Socially, this is re-enforced by having work and rest cycles followed by the majority of the population. Breakfast, lunch and dinners are timed according to the day cycle.

Aubrey Chase Chen knew all this as she walked down the corridor dimmed to reflect the fact that it was midnight. We are a slave to our biology, she thought with a yawn. It was quiet on the passenger deck. Those that were awake were at the ship casino, library, bars and other amusement areas in the Central Plaza. The last person that she'd passed was a boozy girl in a party dress.

Another turn and Chen arrived at her node, a circular alcove with three cabins. The door slid silently to one side with a signal from her personal AI. She stepped inside.

The moment Chen stepped into the suite she felt the hairs prickle on the back of her neck. The lights were dim so she called out. "Lights... standard." The hallway past the front entrance of the suite brightened to daytime levels. There is never complete quiet on starship. Forced air ventilation always creates a white noise and the vibration of the ship presents itself as a steady thrum.

Standing motionless, Chen strained to hear. Nothing. The door to the outside corridor remained open as she had still not crossed the threshold yet. Taking a step forward, the door finally closed with a swish behind her. "Anyone here?" she asked. There was no reply. Feeling silly she walked on.

A cabin suite aboard a passenger liner started off the same as a regular cabin but that is where it ended. They were much larger and as such had more amenities. Just inside the door was an alcove to hang clothing. A large safe was moored to the floor. One of the two washrooms was just to the right consisting of an outer area with a sink, counter and expansive mirror. The inside room held a shower, toilet as well as its own counter and sink. A posh array of towels, lotions and creams was set up inside.

Further inside the room really opened up to bedroom area and living area. What really astounded were the wraparound windows looking outside the ship. Normally, in a warp bubble, it was just a smear of what appeared to be moving stars but was that in fact an illusion. However, on this evening at sub-light speeds, what was visible outside the windows was the Dark Adder Cloud and purple, blues, reds, orange and green danced inside the swirling shapes.

At the far end was the door leading to the second washroom followed by a room beyond that held a hot tub. The wraparound windows continued inside the bath area for a spectacular view outside. 

Chen circled around slowly. Aside from the thrum of the ship her senses picked up nothing. Her eyes narrowed, her nose crinkled and then came that feeling again. She turned and looked at a darkened corner of the room.

"There you are," Chen said. She smiled an insincere smile. "You're the last person I would have expected to see here."

Chen didn't expect an answer. There were a variety of ways to communicate but a quick check using her internal AI showed that the ship comm was being blocked in her cabin. It appeared to be the blanket effect of a highly focused electromagnetic field.

"You seem to have come prepared," Chen stated flatly. "It was a mistake for you to stowaway on the ship. There'll be no where to run."

Chen shuffled her feet slowly backward, moving towards the entrance. She wasn't the least bit afraid but she did want assistance when it came to the capture. "I don't know what you hoped to achieve. You won't find what you are looking for and the information you want isn't with me."

The orders were to capture or kill and given a preference, Chen had no compunction about killing. The body could not be tied to her or the organization. It would be just another stowaway that fell victim to violence. She'd gladly choke the life out of someone who'd caused her no end of problems already.

"Surrender now and maybe there's hope for you," Chen said. Her green eyes stared searching. It was quite a contrast to her otherwise Asian looks.

She stopped moving to the door. Sensing hesitancy in her opponent, Chen waited for a sign to act. And then she felt it. Fear. This was the moment to attack. Taking advantage of the paralysis she'd detected, she reached out and squeezed.

It was all too easy. "You're still the same small, meek mouse you ever were." Chen laughed. "You're no match for us. No match for me. Not then, not now, not ever."

Grinning now as she felt life draining away under ever increasing grip, she decided that murder was preferable than capture. "Your foolishness led to what happened. I hope you realize that now. And now you're going to die knowing that you let them down."

It was cruel but Chen had always gotten off on being this way.

The hesitancy and fear that had compelled her to strike was evaporating. Despite a deathhold grip, raw fury made it difficult for Chen to maintain pressure around the neck. This needed to end this quickly.

What happened next, Chen never even saw coming. A tremendous blow struck her in the solar plexus. Gasping, she felt her grip loosen when a second blow struck her higher and on the right side. She coughed up blood, felt the crack of her ribs. Stunned, she let go and could barely breathe.

A coffee mug flew past her and shattered on the wall.

Still bent over, she was breathless but defiant. "A coffee mug doesn't scare me," she said.

The shards of the cup flew back at her at impossibly fast speeds and embedded in her arm. Chen screamed and looked at her left forearm to see six slivers of the mug stuck in her arm. Deep.

If she wasn't scared before, she was now. Another item flew past her head. A lamp. Not waiting to see what would come next, she fled for the door hunkered over gulping air.

It was not a long way to do the cabin door, just under a dozen strides away. She would be safe if she could make it outside. However, just as she drew close to the exit, a terrible crunching was followed by a blur of movement. A large and very heavy object was flung at the door and buried itself in the metal.

Chen could only gape. She tried the door panel but only heard a whine. Sparks blew out the blocked door frame. She turned to look back down the corridor just in time to feel a broken part of a side table strike her in the cheek. Falling to the floor, she felt the searing heat just under her eye.

Chen screamed as her legs were grasped and she was dragged back into the room kicking and screaming. There was no mistaking this was now a fight for life. Truly afraid at the strength of her opponent, Chen lashed out with blow after blow but none were as effective as her stranglehold earlier. She'd underestimated things, was too quick to gloat, to taunt and now she was trapped. Even as she let loose with a few more thudding blows, she was picked up off her feet and shaken like a ragdoll. A moment later she was tossed brutally against the back wall near the bed. Blood streaked the walls as she collapsed in a heap on the mattress.

A flurry of missiles rained down on Chen. Pieces of the wall, furniture, shards of this and that impacted on her body many of them slicing deep into skin like the splinters of the mug earlier. Rising to her feet for one last charge, she bellowed curses and threats. And then she lunged.

Chen's attack scream continued until it stopped a few scant seconds later. It ended in a gurgle and the sound of cracking bone. And then there was quiet.