Vall's Will by Linda Mooney Read Free Book Online Page A

Nion uniform, so I’m going to assume this is one of the prisoners
you released from the Objurian ship?”
    “His name
is Vall. And, so far, we have been unable to figure out what species he
is.”
    “What does
he say?”
    “Nothing.
He hasn’t spoken a work since we freed him.”
    Oglet narrowed
his eyes. Before he could ask, Will answered him. “No, he’s not mute. My
physician assures me he is capable of speech.”
    Nodding, the
commander motioned to one of the guards. “Have Vall wait on the
bridge.”
    The moment he
was aware he was being taken away, Vall tried to shrug off the guard’s hand and
threw Will a pleading look.
    “It’s all
right, Vall. Wait for us on the bridge. Everything is fine,” she assured
him.
    “Come,
Vall. We’ll wait for her outside.” Gayt gave the sleeve of his robe a
little tug. However, the man continued to resist. Sighing, Will took his hand
and led him back onto the bridge where she left him by the navigation console.
Gayt followed.
    “Stay here
with Gayt. I’ll return for you,” Will said, adding a smile.
    Vall scanned her
face, for what, Will couldn’t fathom. Maybe he was fearful of being separated
from her? Oh, stars, help me when it comes time to leave him here. Adding
a gentle pat to his arm, she released his hand and glanced at the scientist.
    Gayt lowered her
voice. “What’s this all about, Captain?”
    “I don’t
know, but I’m not reading anything. Are you?”
    “No.”
    “Keep Vall
safe while I’m gone. I hope this won’t take long.”
    Throwing Vall
another smile, Will re-entered the inner office. This time, Oglet was seated
behind his desk and reading a report beamed onto his desktop.
    “I just
received the details behind your fight with the Ben Objure. You do know you
attacked a queen ship, don’t you?”
    “Yes, we
were aware of that.”
    “I don’t
think you do.” Resting his elbows on the desk, Oglet templed his fingers
in front of his face. “That wasn’t any queen. It was the queen. The
queen mother, you could say. The uppermost hierarchy of the Objurian
species.”
    Will crossed her
arms under her breasts. “In most cases, I would think we would get major
congratulations for a job well done, but somehow I’m not getting those vibes
from you.”
    “An hour
before you arrived, we received a transmission from Ben Fil Dera Objure. They
say you murdered their Mother of Mothers, and they’re calling for your arrest.
They want you delivered to them immediately, or they promise to start an
all-out war on every outpost and colony supported by the Regency.”
    “Tell the
Objure to go fekk themselves. You know our supreme oath. You know we swear not
to kill. We didn’t kill their precious queen mother. They did. They detonated
their own ship,” Will informed him sharply. “It’s only because of our
natural armor that I and my crew managed to survive the blast.”
    “Your own
vessel tells a slightly different version,” Oglet countered. He tapped the
desk’s surface where the report still reflected. “It says you were on that
vessel a good twenty-eight minutes before it blew. If what you say is true,
twenty-eight minutes passed until, somewhere, somehow, you or one of your crew
either tripped something, or planted a device, which caused the
explosion.”
    “I am not
lying,” Will insisted. “My crew and I are innocent of the charges. We
did not outright kill the queen mother. Immobilized her, yes.”
    “Where were
you, Captain, when it all went down?”
    Will nearly
turned to look at the doorway leading to the bridge. “We had just rescued
Vall.”
    “The young
man in the robes?”
    She nodded.
“Yes.”
    Oglet leaned
back in his chair as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Curious.”
    “I
agree.”
    He glanced back
down at the report. “By the time you reached the young man, you had
already freed other prisoners?”
    “Most of
them, yes, sir. We reached the Anglites first. The next cell contained
Kordorphats. Vall was our