Excerpt from: The Chameleon Effect #3

Part 3

Chavez and Kira are getting to know one another while on Chavez's space ship. So far it's been a rocky introduction and Kira can only glare at Chavez in distrust. Her memory is gone and she doesn't even remember her own name. She was told by the slaver that Chavez would give her a name. This unsettles Chavez and he calls The Agency (which he works for) and he is instructed to tell her what she needs to know and 'fix it' so she can go home!

Chavez was about to start questioning Kira about where she'd been held when the alarm went off on his display. There was a ship approaching. Who would be out here and why? He raised the shields and armed his weapons, getting ready for the encounter.

"What's happening?" Kira stood beside him looking at the monitors. "Are we being attacked?"

"It's possible, they're jamming my signal. You need to go strap yourself in that chair over there." Chavez pointed to a high back chair that was away from the monitors, but near the escape pods. The bridge was arranged conveniently around the main display in a semi-circle. This afforded Chavez a compact space, while the auxiliary units were off to the sides.

Kira glanced at the escape pod sign. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Chavez nodded absently, but was too busy watching the screen to pay attention to her statement. The incoming ship was continuing on an intercept course. If it didn't adjust its trajectory, they would collide within a few minutes. Then, a swarthy looking half-man, half-reptile came onscreen. He spoke in a guttural language. Chavez switched on the universal translator and allowed his transmission.

"This is Captain Luthius Maddeson." His words slurred together. "Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded. You are carrying a known criminal who has escaped from Prison Planet 452. If you refuse, you will be fired upon!" Captain Maddeson had a reptilian face with dark brown skin and black eyes. He blinked and a second lid closed over his eyes. He was an Orgarian from the planet Nochturius. Very few humans had gone there, and had ever come back.

Chavez snorted. "What gives you the right to make demands on me? And whose authority gives you permission to fire on me?"

There was a slight pause before Captain Maddeson growled, "I don't need anybodys permission. This is intergalactic free space and I'm in charge here. You have five of your Terran minutes to comply."

Chavez had dealt with the Orgarians before and knew how lethal they were. He began sending an encoded message to The Agency designating his last known position ans then stalled for time. "What makes you think I have a criminal on board?"

Captain Maddeson took the bait. "My sensors show that you have two Terrans on board, one male, one female. The female is our criminal and we want her."

While Captain Maddeson was talking, Chavez was preparing jump coordinates that would take the ship across the galaxy. He looked over at Kira and shook his head when she started to speak. She closed her mouth without making a sound, but when he passed his hand over the sensor to engage the jump, he could vaguely hear her sudden yelp of surprise. The ship lurched and faded into nothing as Kira's shout caught up with the stretching of the space time continuum.