Bightmares

Chapter Fourteen

Eckhart’s mental condition worsened in confinement. He didn’t need to eat anything to fly into a rage. Because of Emi’s expertise in psychology, Sascha let her take the lead directing Eckhart’s treatment regimen. That evening, she ordered a cocktail of drugs she hoped would stabilize him, or at the very least make him more manageable. Dr. Martinez helped Taber administer them. Within an hour, Eckhart lay quietly on his side on his bunk and stared at the wall.

His internal rage still seethed, unquenchable. Emi sat down and took a long look at his detailed personnel records and family history. His mother died by suicide a month after her husband’s execution. James Candling Eckhart’s name had been changed by his uncle, who was then an ISNC commodore.

That probably explained his connections.

Raised in military boarding school, he excelled in his classes, although his instructors noted he wasn’t very social. His skills and high grades earned him an early graduation and position in the Academy’s training staff at his uncle’s recommendation. He’d been leading training missions for seven years. Before now, he had an unblemished service record. He had, in fact, earned several commendations and letters of recommendation in his record from superior officers.

She made sure to record her session with Eckhart for evidence. “How did you locate Captain Lucio and his men?”

Eckhart didn’t roll away from the wall, although a wave of sedation-subdued rage washed across the cell toward her. “I’m tapped into the assignment rosters. I’ve kept track of Lucio and his fuck buddies for years. Once they hit the DSMC, I knew it was just a matter of time before they’d be sent on a mission needing ISNC backup. I had to take the chance when it came up. I didn’t know when I’d get another one.”

“Your uncle green-lighted your assignment?”

“Yep. He thought I showed great initiative in volunteering. He didn’t realize Lucio was also assigned. I didn’t tell him that. He signed off on it without even looking. He assumed it would be an easy monitoring mission, that you all would get it figured out before we even got here. Give the kids a safe shakedown jump cruise, a little experience.”

It’d been that and more, unfortunately. The drugs she’d given him also made him tell the truth. At least, the truth as he perceived it.

“How did your med officer die?”

“He saw the official itinerary and questioned why I’d changed it, why we were stopping at the trans-light relay. I couldn’t risk him interfering.”

“You killed him?”

“Yes. I hit him in the head when his back was turned in cargo.” His emotionless voice shocked her. That wasn’t just the drugs. She felt it in him, a bottomless black hole, a lack of compassion and empathy for anyone.

“So you didn’t care that you committed murder and were sentencing innocent people to death?”

He rolled over and looked at her. “Innocent? My father died because of their lies. I never got to know him. My mother killed herself because of their lies! Why should they get to live a happy life when I never got that?”

Emi wanted to rage a little herself, scream at him that his father had been an unfaithful animal without a conscience who sent an innocent woman to her death and nearly got Aaron killed in the process. She bit her tongue. It wouldn’t do any good. Only Eckhart’s uncle’s hand on his career got him to this point in the service.

“Did you view the hearing records?” Emi asked. “Read the transcripts and reports?” Emi had scanned through them after Aaron unlocked them for her. In an attempt to save his hide, Candling had thrown himself on the mercy of the court and claimed he was mentally ill. He admitted to everything, claimed he’d gone temporarily insane with jealousy.

After several of his crew testified he chased any woman he could and had made statements about wanting revenge on Aaron, Ford, Caph, and Kels for her rejecting him, he was found guilty by a unanimous decision. The pre-hearing investigation turned up thirty women Candling had affairs with in the previous twelve months before the incident. Affairs he’d never revealed to his wife, who he’d only married after getting her pregnant so she could receive spousal benefits from the Merchant Marines for herself and her son.

“They were lies. My mother said he loved her.”

His mother had also been a few letters short of a full alphabet. She’d taken various medications for years, prescribed and illegally obtained, according to her autopsy. Antidepressants, antipsychotics, narcotics—a nearly toxic stew of drugs. Her own brother testified at the coroner’s inquest that she’d suffered from mental health and substance abuse problems for over a decade.

Apparently, so did her son. At least the mental health issues. Emi wondered if the woman had taken those drugs while pregnant. If so, it would explain a lot about her son. While some of Eckhart’s earlier school counselor reviews seemed questionable, there were no warning signs in his recent mental health screenings to raise red flags that would disqualify him from service.

Talking to him would do no good and only amplify the tension headache Emi now suffered. She returned to the conference room and sent the recorded conversation to the data banks on the Tamora Bight and Kendall Kant to make it part of the incident report.

Ilse walked in with her husband. They studied Eckhart through the observation window. “Emi, why don’t you and Aaron go back to your ship for the night? Relax. You look exhausted.”

She felt exhausted. “What do you think, Aar? Can we leave him here?”

Aaron nodded. “Better here in a brig with the manpower to keep an eye on him than on a ship where there are weapons. We don’t have a brig on the Bight anyway.”

Emi left orders for the drugs she wanted Eckhart to have and followed Aaron to the lander. She must have dozed, because what felt like minutes later, he gently shook her shoulder.

“Wake up, babe. We’re home.” He’d safely docked the lander in the Tamora Bight’s cargo hold.

Caph appeared and scooped her into his arms. “Welcome home, babe!” As tired as she was, she still enjoyed his enthusiastic kiss.

She nestled in his arms. “I missed you, big guy.”

He leaned over and kissed Aaron hello. “I missed both of you. Jesus, it’s great to have you back.”

Aaron detoured to the bridge while Caph carried Emi to their cabin and curled around her in their bed, his large body engulfing hers.

Ford walked in a moment later and knelt on the side of the bed. “Hey, baby. Welcome home.”

She lifted her head and received a sweet kiss from him. “You coming to bed?”

“Naw, I’m taking night watch tonight.” He stroked the hair away from her forehead. “See? I told you you’d figure things out.” He stood. “I just wanted to welcome you back and kiss you goodnight before you went to sleep.”

Emi smiled and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, their cabin was dark and she still lay nestled in Caph’s arms. Aaron lay tightly pressed against her other side, his arm protectively draped over her waist. Both men were sound asleep.

She started to drift back to sleep when she felt Ford’s presence leave the bridge and approach the cabin. By the time he’d reached the door, she’d carefully untangled herself from Aaron and Caph and met him there.

“What’s wrong?”

He smiled. “Your empath senses tingling?”

“Yeah.”

He motioned her out of the cabin and back to the bridge. “John’s on the horn. I’ve got the video com link up. I didn’t want to wake the guys.”

She slid into the command chair while Ford stood behind her. “What do you have for me, John? Give me good news.”

He grinned. “Very good news. I already sent the info down to Sascha to test. I think we have the cure.”

“What’s the culprit?”

“It’s like a type of anaphylactic reaction. It’s a combination of the proteins in that particular version of wheat from the seed stocks cultivated on-planet. Something about the gluten makes the proteins bind to the melanin and testosterone, and in the process, it short-circuits the prefrontal cortex for a few minutes. It feeds itself off adrenaline. When the person is knocked out, their body relaxes, adrenaline production decreases, and the rage ends. Very strange.”

“What caused the mutation?”

“Don’t know. We’re not even sure what the complete reaction is, we’re just guessing. That’s going to take a while. Probably have to work backwards from the solution to figure out the cause. We tested samples of wheat grown from earth stocks on the planet and can’t find any kind of difference. It’s only that newest wheat stock, not the others. We’ll know by morning if the antidote works or not.”

“And we can start unloading supplies for the colony, too.”

“Exactly. That’s all I had, but I knew you’d want to know as soon as I found out.”

“Thanks, John. Tamora Bight out.”

She stood and hugged Ford. He lifted her off her feet and spun her around. “See? I was right.”

“Yes, you were right. Happy?”

He ground his hips against hers. “Once we get away from here and onto our next mission, yeah, then I’ll be happy.”

She returned to their cabin and carefully snuggled between her men without waking them. Even in sleep she felt their contentment, the stress from the past several days gone from their systems.

As she slipped back into sleep, she wondered if Eckhart would ever in his life feel peace and contentment.

She awoke alone in bed the next morning. Something felt wrong.

Pulling on a robe, she hurried out to the galley. Aaron and Ford sat talking at the table. At her appearance, their conversation stopped as they looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

Aaron spoke. “Eckhart escaped this morning. He stabbed Taber and got loose.”