Chapter 2
Captured in the Night

A knock at her door echoed throughout Lysa's bedchambers, startling Lysa from her
sleep. She touched her bedpost, which turned on a light in her room. Lysa ran a hand over
her eyes and touched her forehead softly trying to wake herself. All the events that had
transpired were like a nightmare to her and she wished that they would just fade into oblivion.
Lysa opened her eyes and sat up in her bed before talking at the door.
"Yes what is it?" Lysa questioned.
"We have some important matters to discuss." a man said through the door.
"Can't it wait till morning?" Lysa questioned.
"I'm afraid not, my lady." the man replied with a certain confidence in his voice.
"O.K. hold on a second." Lysa said reluctantly as she climbed from her bed.
She walked over to her closet and opened it slowly. She pulled a robe off the rack
and put it on herself, wrapping her body up inside the robe and tying it up with a piece of
cloth. Lysa left the closet door wide open. She walked over toward the door and pushed a
button on the door causing it to slide open. Upon opening the door, she found a gun pointed
at her head.
"What is the meaning of this?" Lysa demanded.
"Sorry my queen, but you are under arrest and charged with treason." said the trooper.
"Treason? That's absurd! Against whom?" Lysa explained upset and rather annoyed.
Upon hearing this, a man stepped out of the hallway and toward Lysa.
"Against Lord Pentares." Replied Captain Williams.
The man is wearing the palace military uniform with the rank and command of Captain. The
Captain had several medals hanging from his uniform as if he were dressed up for some special
occasion.
"Captain Williams are you not yourself committing treason?" Lysa asked calmly.
Captain Williams doesn't reply to her question. Instead he raises the gun closer to her
head. Instinctively Lysa draws back touching a panel beside her on the wall.
"Guards, I am under attack come quick!" Lysa commanded.
Instead of getting a reply Lysa only received com static. Thinking about the mere
possibilities of what could have been wrong, Lysa's face turns to dread.
"They can't help you now. You can come peacefully if you wish." Captain Williams said
arrogantly.
She quickly pushed a button by her door causing it to close quickly a click sounded as
the door locked itself. On the outside of the door she could hear the troopers banging on the
door. She had just a few minutes before they would get through. Stretching her hand out a
cylindrical tool flew into her hand. She quickly opens up the window and the headed into the
closet shutting it behind her. The window being open as a distraction for the troops so that
they would have thought she went out the window. She knew though that the window would have
been the worst path because it would have been the first place they would have looked. Plus
the window left her in the open outdoors the worst possible place a person would want to be
while trying to escape. Pulling on the clothes rack, the wall opened up at the back of the
closet. She climbed through the hidden room and pushes her foot against a lever, closing the
wall.
****************
"Quickly this way!" Captain Williams said pointing to another corridor.
Guards quickly followed Williams down the corridor in tight formation making sure that
they were all in order. Running quickly Williams passed a few security cameras on the way
ignoring each one of them instead focusing on the capture of the Queen. Turning down another
hall he reached a service elevator. Immediately pushing in a security access code the elevator
opened with a whoosh.
"In here! If I'm not mistaken this should lead down to the queen's hangar bay."
Williams instructs the other troopers.
Williams and a few guards stepped into the elevator with their guns ready and in hand.
Turning around Williams pushed a button, which causes the elevator doors to close. The elevator
started its downward descent with a humming sound.
****************
Lysa quickly ran down the halls toward her own personal hangar bay. She raised her hand
in the air nonchalantly toward one of the many security cameras causing it to pause its
recording. Running as fast as her legs could carry her she exited the hall and making it into
the hangar bay. The majestic beauty of the Regal was seen clearly from Lysa's distance. She
stood in awe from looking at the ship and for a moment she almost forgot what she was doing.
Finally after a few seconds she regained her thought process and carefully moved into the hangar
bay. With her lightsaber in hand she strode toward her ship quickly passing through the hangar
bay. Sprinting to the back of the ship she reached the access panel, still with no one in sight.
Pressing in the access code quickly with her fingers she accidentally pushed the code in wrong.
Getting an access denied response she tries again slowly. Troopers ran in through the only way
to access the hangar, through the way she came.
"Stop her!" one of the troopers shouted.
The troopers started shooting at her but most of the shots went wide. It was as if they
were trying not to hit her. That's right, they weren't, they were avoiding her for some reason.
What did they have planned? They were coming closer and she had to hurry. Finally inputting
the last symbol, after getting an access granted response, the landing ramp opened up.
Reattaching her lightsaber to her belt she starts up the landing ramp. She quickly ran into the
ship looking back for a second then glanced forward. She stops stunned as she sees a table in
front of her complete with tablecloths, candlelight and some food. Sitting down at the table
she saw Captain Williams and several troopers. The landing ramp behind her immediately closed.
"Would you care to join us for dinner?" He said with a bit delight.
"Well Captain to be honest you're not my type...and your buddies here will have to leave
I prefer to dine alone this evening." she replied.
"Charming...Planning on making travel arrangements?" Williams responded quickly.
"Perhaps." Lysa replied coolly.
"Well might as well have one last dinner before you leave this world, for you will be
gone for a long time." Williams said.
Now was not the time to make her move, too many guards were around her. She had no
choice but to sit down and play the Captain's game. Unexpectedly one of the guards took her
lightsaber from her. Trying to stay calm Lysa and showing no aggression, she sat down in the
chair before her. Williams looked at her smiling knowing that she cannot escape and that she's
playing along with his little game. Lysa picked up a fork slowly and looked at the food before
her. There was no way she could trust what Williams gave her chances are he drugged her food.
Poking at the food with her fork before taking a portion of it up and bringing it before her
mouth. She stopped before putting it in her mouth and then she put down the fork for a second
acting uneasy. She looked around the ship seeing that there were four guards and Williams.
There was no way she could make a move with those guards here, she would have to get rid of them.
"Excuse me Captain, but can you get rid of those guards they are making me uneasy." She
whispers to him. "You don't need them here, with them gone we can be alone." She put her hand
on his softly while caressing it.
Williams looked at her with a slight grin on his face. Looking her over for a time he
finally spoke.
"Guards leave us I don't need you here." Williams commanded.
"But where will we go sir?" one of the guards asked.
"Anywhere. I don't know wander the ship." Williams commanded swiftly.
"Yes sir." the guard acknowledges.
The guard quickly left and the others followed him obediently. Williams looked at her
happy that the guards are gone and smiles at her. She looked at him and gives him a smile she
winked at her flirtatiously. Williams sat back in his chair and relaxed sipping his ale softly.
Lysa knowing she had him in her range. The next second she leaned forward reaching for
something but at the same time partially exposing herself to him. Williams noticing her
leaning forward cant help but stare at her. Caught in her trap he was like a lamb led into the
slaughter. His heart was racing and she knew it she was making him sweat under that rigid
exterior he put off.
"Excuse me Captain, can you fill my glass?" She says in a sexy voice.
Captain Williams letting his guard down reaches for a wine bottle and pours some wine
into her glass. Clumsily he is distracted and he knocked the glass over spilling the wine. At
that moment she stabs his hand with the fork in her hand. The fork pierces deep into the skin
and sticks straight up. Williams realizing that something was stuck in his hand immediately
grasps the fork and pulls it out. He let out a scream of pain which surprised the guards in the
other room, immediately the guards came running in with their guns drawn. Moving quickly she
jumped on the table and lunged toward a stunned Williams kicking him hard in the face breaking
his nose and knocking him to the floor. Reaching over the table she grabbed a knife and threw
it at the nearest guard, which was conveniently holding her lightsaber. The knife finds it mark
in the forehead of the closest trooper. In his descent of death the trooper falls to the ground
the lightsaber flew into the air. Instinctively Lysa grabs the lightsaber and in a backward
pivot on her left foot she spins around while igniting her lightsaber. With a snap-hiss, a
bright yellow blade now shone out the end of the lightsaber in the same movement she sliced
through the first trooper's gun and almost his hand. Luckily the trooper had seen the movement
and had backed out of the way in time. Using her momentum Lysa elbows the man in the face with
her right arm. The trooper joins his comrade on the ground. Reaching out with the force she
sent the chair that Captain Williams was sitting on at the third guard knocking him to the
ground. Before he can even get up Lysa flipped into the air and landed hard on his chest with
her feet. The other guard stunned by the efficiency of her attacks retreated and left the ship.
Williams seeing what has happened grabs his gun and stands.
"Hold it right there stop!" Williams shouted.
"Williams are you sure you want to do this?" She questioned.
Knowing his intentions Lysa turned around facing him, William's nose still bleeding from
the blow she sent to his face. He quickly fired a shot at Lysa, seeing it coming deflects it
back at him. The laser blast hit his right leg burning right through his clothing and injuring
his right leg. He dropped to the ground in pain clutching his injured leg. Lysa used the force
to pull the gun in his hand from him.
"Looks like you lose this round Captain." Lysa said triumphantly. Running through the
cockpit she saw the copilot droid. Turning the pilot on quickly she took her seat in the pilot's
chair. She checked all systems quickly and then fired up the engines. The door behind the
cockpit closed immediately. While taking off she opened the cargo hatch.
"Time to get rid of some loose baggage." she said.
Sliding across the flooring Captain Williams and his men are sucked out of the ship and
into the air. Falling hard Williams hit the ground crunching a few bones. The ship itself rose
hard in a steep slant and headed away from the planet of Etheria. The jets from the ship fire
leaving a fire trail across the sky. Racing past the point of no return Lysa looked out toward
the stars. Suddenly a blast rocked the ship making Lysa lurch forward from her chair. Out in
the distance she saw a vast ship. Her communication channels opened suddenly and she heard a
voice over the com system.
"Regal this is the Noble prepare to cease your escape, power down your engines and
prepare to be boarded."
Panicked the queen looked at the control panel. Suddenly her engines stop and the ship
remained still. She looks toward her copilot in disbelief. Lysa reaches for the control panel
when the droid grabs her arm. Instantly a pulse is sent through her body and she feels her legs
go numb. Trying hard to support herself her legs crumbled underneath her and she fell hard to
the ground. Staring hard at the droid she sees something attaches to it's back, something she
didn't see when she first came on board. The object sticking to the droid was about the size of
the fingernail on her pinkie. It was a override circuit, they were used to override a droid's
system, making it unaware of what it's doing and subject to the one's programming who used the
circuit. They had not been used for years and were outlawed by the king himself. She did not
have enough strength to reach the device nor would she want to try. The droid had been
reprogrammed who knows what other orders it might carry out. The only thing she could do is
wait, wait to live or wait to die. She looked up toward the ceiling, not at the ceiling but
past it, past the ship and out into the stars, praying to some higher being not for herself but
for her child. Noises were heard from inside the ship as something latched onto it. A door
blew open with a loud blast as troopers rushed into the ship. Looking down the hall she saw the
troopers rush in. The lead trooper grabbed a hold of her and cuffed her. A tall man in red
robes walks toward the cockpit and the troopers part as he walked. Seeing Lysa on the ground he
squatted down to reach eye level with her.
"So Lysa trying to run away are we?" the man asked.
Lysa only had silence for the man in robes.
"Where is the child?" he asks.
"I don't know what you are talking about." she replied.
The man whipped his arm back and slapped her in the face, snapping her head back.
Turning back toward him with a bruise she looked at him. Holding in her feelings she tries to
put up all barriers possible but with her limited training she doesn't know how good it will do.
"Don't play dumb with me you know what I am talking about." Pentares raised his voice
angrily.
Trying hard to keep her barriers up she feels an intruding mind trying to pry his way
in. A stab of pain rushed through her head giving her a major headache.
"Where is the one called Aerill?" he yells.
Knowing that he had entered her mind her soul cried out. She remained silent still not
talking trying to do everything to save her boy. The man raised a hand in the air again readying
to hit her.
"You will answer me when I talk to you." he shouted outraged.
Seeing that she won't talk he calmed himself down and smiled.
"Nevertheless I will know soon enough." he said.
Looking at her he laughed as he pries his way past her barriers and into the deep
recesses of her mind.
"Find the one called Ayslinn kill her and the child." he commanded.
Stepping out of the shadows a young man stepped into the light. He stood in the light
yet there was still a shadow covering him. Lysa looks at him and knows immediately that he is a
dark Jedi. A cylindrical tool at his side is seen in the light.
"Yes, my lord." he said in a dark voice as he bows.
The dark Jedi left the ship as quickly as he arrived. The man in red robes grabbed the
cylindrical tool at Lysa's side. Lysa was now sweating hard she had lost control of herself,
her composure was now gone and she had revealed too much information already. Taking the
lightsaber in his hand he ignited it. Bringing it in front of her face as if to frighten her he
waved it back and forth.
"There are worse fates than death in your kingdom." Lysa rebuked defiantly.
"You know you are right. I'll have to think one up for you then." he said. "Take her
away."
Troopers quickly rushed to pick up the paralyzed Lysa and dragged her away. Lysa
quickly got one last look at Pentares before she is gone. The man looks out the viewport and
laughed.