Overcoming Adversity with Captain Wrath

This bloghop is hosted by Nick Wilford who is compiling the entries to help raise funds to send his stepson to a specialist college. It's a great cause, and I've been excited to write my post since I first heard of it.

The tough part for me was choosing a story to share: my dad's active life despite a childhood disability and a prosthetic leg, or my friends' daughter who sang a solo at her school recital recently even though she is in a halo and a full body brace, or my sister-in-law's husband who leads Bible Studies although he has MS and is unable to move from the neck down. There are days when I feel surrounded by amazing heroes and heroines who overcome adversity daily.

I couldn't decide, and life got crazy, and when life gets crazy I seem to end up thinking about Captain Wrath, aka Doug Cranton. So I don't know if it fits or not and I wrote it at the last minute between grading papers, but here is a story from Captain Wrath:

Doug woke in an instant, remembering the fight. Restraints on his wrists and ankles kept him from leaping out of his chair, but it toppled forward.

He hit knees first, and then forehead.

Husky laughter greeted him, and a pair of stiletto heels sauntered past his side view. “Get him up,” said an oddly familiar voice.

A bulky figure hauled his chair upright and he faced the woman from the spaceport bar.

She leaned in close to him and whispered, “Now, Dougie, be a good boy and tell me why a cruise ship captain would be interested in my cargo.”

Doug looked at the single light bulb hanging above her head.

She drew back, and placed her long fingernails against his cheek. “Whoever’s paying you isn’t paying you enough to go against us, trust me.”

“No one’s paying me,” he said angrily.

“What? That’s ridiculous.” Her eyes narrowed. “Unless you think you can make a profit from trafficking on your own . . .which you can’t unless you have the right contacts.” She dug her sharp nails into the side of his face. “Who are your contacts?”

Doug gasped, surprised by the pain. How in the world did this woman get her nails that sharp? He had to get out of here, but he couldn’t see much of the room. He didn’t think she had more than one bodyguard with her, because he hadn’t heard anyone else.

“Who are your contacts?” she asked again, digging her nails in deeper.

Doug tried to ignore the pain.

“Pay attention, Doug. You don’t know who you’re dealing with here.” As she spoke, her voice changed in pitch, and he could see the pupils of her eyes narrow to oval slits. Her cheekbones enlarged and fangs sprouted along her upper teeth.

Doug shuddered. Out of all the races from the Faerland Galaxy, those that could change form were the only ones that truly frightened him. “I don’t need payment to free slaves,” he said.

She drew back with a roar, her face morphing oddly between the form of a woman and a cat.

Doug felt himself break into a shivering sweat, terrified.

Finally, she stopped, and said, “Tell me how you knew about the cargo, and you might not have to die.”

“If I die today, I die knowing that I saved people from the misery you intended.” Doug tried to shrug nonchalantly. “Go ahead.”

Suddenly, a huge crashing noise from behind Doug interrupted the interrogation. Weapons fire filled the air, and Doug threw himself to the side, knocking his chair over on purpose.

The woman changed the rest of the way into a tigress, but bullets cut her down in mid-leap.

Strong fingers freed Doug’s hands, and Doug twisted to see Telli behind him.

“Good to see you alive and whole, Captain Wrath.”

“Good to be alive,” Doug said.

“Let’s not tell the crew that I had to save your hide this time, Captain, or your reputation will be ruined.”

“Agreed.”

 

 

Distracting Characters 2 - Backstory for Captain Wrath

One of my biggest distractions these last three months (or is it more) is a space captain by the name of Captain Wrath. Only that's not his real name, because that's just a part he plays for Galaxy Cruise Lines. His real name is Captain Doug, and the whole reason he had to get a job with the cruise line is that he got kicked out of the Space Navy due to an incident with a Leprecharian . . .and I got to wondering just what happened (I didn't really know when I wrote the first story). So here's the start of that distracting story:

          It all started innocently enough, with a card game in the barracks during off hours. Doug was winning. His side of the table held a dozen credit cards, and a few watches. Doug loved card games. His Grandad, Commander Cranton the first, had taught him all the tricks before he even started standard school. He knew that some people felt that counting cards and reading player’s faces was tantamount to cheating, but he figured that if they all played to their fullest ability, then he shouldn’t have to hold back. Besides, it was easy. Any fool smart enough to make it into the Spacy Navy should be able to do it.

          Unfortunately, the Space Navy admitted even bigger fools, like Reynad from the Eutrope Moon Colony.

          As Doug won another game, sweeping up the cards from the table, Reynad stood up, and knocked the whole table onto Doug’s lap.

          “You’re cheating, Cranton, just like your Grandad!” shouted Reynad. He clenched his oversized fists in Doug’s face.

          Reynad’s buddies, Lewis and Zib, stood up to grab Reynad’s shoulders and hold him back.

          If Reynad had simply called Doug a cheater, he would have let it go. But Reynad had maligned Grandad. Doug stood slowly, put all of his winnings into his zipper pocket on the inside of his vest, and rolled up his shirt sleeves slowly. “Would you like to air your grievances outside, Reynad?” he asked quietly.

          “You bet I would!” shouted Reynad. He seemed to have only two volumes for his voice, oily and snobbish, or loud and boorish.

          “Would anyone care to wager on the outcome?” asked Doug, looking around the crowded barracks.

          “You’re going to bet on your own fight?” asked Wistar, his Elvanen friend, who stood taller and leaner than the rest.

          “Well, that would be cheating,” said Doug slowly, “so of course not.” He smiled at Reynad. “But if you,” now he looked at Wistar and their other friend Smith, “would like to place a wager on me, I’m sure you’ll get your money’s worth out of it.”

          Smith chuckled darkly. He always seemed to find grim humor in every situation. It had made him a fast friend in their first few days in Space Navy Scrub Camp.

          “I’ll place a bet,” said a high pitched voice.

          Doug, along with the rest of the barracks, peered around for the speaker. He didn’t recognize that voice.

          “Ahem,” said the voice. “Down here by your boot. No, don’t step on me now!”

          Doug finally saw the little man, dressed in a violent shade of green, standing by his right calf. “Who are you?” he asked curiously. “I don’t remember seeing you in our unit before.”

          “As if a leprechanarian could be a Space Navy Captain?” guffawed Reynad, insensitively.

          The little man drew up himself up proudly, sticking out his tiny chest. “The Leprechanarian Space Fleet is the finest in the Universe, and I am Captain Elwy Eurion Maddox of the Star Voyager.”

          “Sure, and I’m a fire breathing draconian if you’re the captain of anything larger than your silly hat,” Said Reynad.

          “That’s enough, Reynad,” said Doug. “Just because the man wants to bet against you, doesn’t mean he deserves an insult. In fact, I think he deserves commendation for having a sharp eye.” Doug reached down to shake Captain Elwy’s hand in his fingers.

          “Nice to make your acquaintance, Captain Elwy,” he said.

Obviously things will get worse from here because Doug eventually blames the Leprechanarians for losing his place in the Space Navy. In the far future - beyond the snippets I've written, I have a half-notated scene about an eventual peace between Doug and some of the Faerie Galaxy - and a reason they're in space. You see, the idea is that all the myths, faeries, etc were all space-faring races that visited Earth before we become space travelers in this quirky scifi fantasy.

100 Days of Revision, Day 50
 I changed a few little things again, and I think it's making the story stronger, it's just taking me longer to get it done. Here's a bit of dialogue between Clara and Stelia (one of her favorite teachers) on a trail away from Skycliff:

Stelia looked down at the sand path, strewn with dead sea grasses and tiny rocks. “That will depend on Sihrqayya’s plans, although I’m sure that if we are allowed to escape here, she will be waiting for us later, depending on how far we go from Septily.”

          “Does she normally set traps?”

          “She loves to play with her prey, once she sure she has them in her grasp. It is one of the trademarks of all the Dark Sisterhood. They enjoy inflicting pain on others.” Stelia’s stomach muscles clenched remembering old tortures, and the things she had done to avoid them.

So, what are you working on today?

Flash Fiction Blogfest: Lighting Flashed!

Last year in May, Cherie Reich hosted a Flash Fiction Blogfest. She enjoyed it so much, she decided to host it again this year.

Here are the rules:

1. Entries must begin with the two words: Lightning flashed.

2. Entries must be 300 words or less and be in prose. I'm not versed enough in poetry verse to judge it properly.

3. Entries must be posted on your blog between May 21 - 23.

4. You must sign up in the linky on her site.

On May 25, she will announce the six finalists and open voting through May 28th.

On May 29th, Cherie's third year blogversary, she will announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners as well as a random winner selected from the participants list. All ties will be broken by Random.org.

Now what are the prizes?

First place - $25 gift card from Amazon
Second place - $20 gift card from Amazon
Third place - $15 gift card from Amazon
Random prize - $10 gift card from Amazon

My entry: Captain Wrath Goes Camping

                Lightning flashed. Captain Wrath, aka Douglas Cranton, cursed loudly to satisfy his paying passengers, and then stumped over to his tent. Galaxy Cruise Lines had decided in their universal wisdom to add an overnight excursion to the Western Edge tours. In addition to the garish costume, foul makeup and other discomforts lavished on Douglas by his employers, the whole Smuggler’s Cove Excursion on the newly synthed Looter’s Island had nearly forced Doug to break his employee contract.

                Thankfully, Doug had wrangled a few perks out of management, like his Captain’s tent placed on the best campsite under a large canopy tree. In rotten weather like this, he could slip into the large tent and hope that the company didn’t spring any surprise excursion adventures upon him.

                A shrill scream interrupted his momentary hope.

Doug drew his pistol-blasters and threw open the tent flap. The lanterns in the camp were all out, and only the wind driven rain greeted him. With the moon hidden behind the thick clouds, he couldn’t see anything.

                Doug stepped away from his tent, not wanting the light to make him a target. In the shadows of the canopy tree, he listened carefully for sounds of his crew. A silky murmur emanated from the tree behind him, and slender hands ran down his back.

                “What the devil!” Doug shouted, jumping away from the hands.

                A beautiful Dryadarian barely covered in brown bark smiled seductively at him. “Don’t you want to have a little fun, Captain Wrath? Your passengers are all taken care of . . .

                With a flick of his thumb, Doug changed the cartridge in his pistol, and shot her with universal sleeping gas.

                She crumpled to the ground, and he stepped into the dense foliage.

Time to rescue his passengers again.

               

author note: I had so much fun with Captain Wrath for a previous blog challenge, that I decided to use him again. If you want to read my original Captain Wrath story, go here: The Identity Crisis of Captain Wrath

100 Days of Revision, Day 21

Had a bit of slow down this weekend - my Sundays have been incredibly fun and busy lately, but I'm back into it today. This process isn't quite what I had planned for it to be; I'm spending a few hours at it on some days, and short bits of time on it on other days, but I'm trying to keep this in the forefront of my writing time.