“I guess so. It’s not like I have anything else going in my life. I assume you read my file, and know that I don't exactly have a home to go back to,” she said, sipping at her water.
“Hmm,” Sara mused, squinting at the small, blonde woman. “What would you do with your power? The Marines is the most likely place for you, but there are positions on the larger ships, like the destroyer that’s towing us home. Would you be interested in either of those?”
Boon took another sip of water, thinking it over. “I would do whatever they needed me to do, but I would hope it was something that made a difference. You know, really help people. Like a medic.”
“Could you fight, if you needed to?” Sara asked, getting to the meat of her query.
Boon didn't hesitate this time. “Absolutely. The Teifen have shown us that they are incapable of mercy. We need to fight to keep ourselves safe.”
Sara nodded. She liked Boon—had ever since the girl had served her first meal on the ship. “Did you see what I did on Colony 788?”
Boon’s eyes widened. “Yes, ma’am. Some of the Marines had video from their Aether suits. You were incredible.”
Sara bit her lip. She didn’t want to scare the girl by telling her how close she had come to killing her own troops. It was a balancing act; on one hand, she was scared of what a War Mage could do on a rampage, but on the other, she knew humankind would never survive the war without more of them.
Maybe Boon’s temperance will serve her well as a War Mage. If she becomes one. Sara wanted to know more. “What would you do with the kind of power I have?” she asked the slightly swaying woman.
Boon gave a laugh. “I would take the fight to the Teifen. Make them understand that humans are not just going to stand by and be annihilated.”
Sara leaned back in her chair, sizing Boon up. Alister jumped into her lap and regarded Boon as well, his yellow eyes just coming over the table’s top.
Sara looked down at him. “What do you think? Should we let her give it a try?”
Alister looked up at her so his face appeared upside down. “Merp,” he said with conviction.
“Yeah. I think so too,” she agreed, giving him a pat. She looked up at her cabin girl. “I have a proposition for you, Boon. How would you like to skip the whole training part, and become something better?”
Boon squinted one eye. “Skip it? Like, become an engineer or something?”
Sara laughed. “I was thinking more along the lines of a War Mage.”
Boon’s eyes went wide, and she hiccupped.
Chapter 4
Sara rubbed at her sleep-deprived eyes, fighting off the urge that Alister had succumbed to hours ago. The little shit hadn’t even tried to keep her and Boon company.
Sara had to smile at the little black cat, though. He was curled up in a ball, breathing slow, deep breaths. He was too cute by far.
One of Alister’s ears twitched, and Sara rolled her eyes. “You little faker.”
“What? I’m not faking it. This spellform is unbelievably complicated,” Boon half-whined, thinking Sara was talking about her. She was sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor, showing no signs of fatigue.
Sara chuckled. “I was talking to Alister. He’s faking sleep.”
Boon’s mouth opened in an ‘O’ as she breathed out with understanding. “Sorry. I’m a little on edge. I don't know how you did this without help; I can barely cast a normal fire spell. I just wasn’t trained for this,” she said, leaning over her tablet and looking at the 3-D models of the spellforms for the hundredth time.
“It was hard, but I’ve been practicing spellforms my entire life. This isn’t supposed to be easy; in fact, it’s supposed to be nearly impossible. From what I can tell, War Mages were rare.”
Boon let out a breath, blowing a strand of blonde hair that had come loose sometime in the last few hours away from her face .
Sara had started by explaining what a War Mage was. She’d given Boon the small amount of history she knew, which was not much, but Sara's own abilities were all it had taken to convince Alicia that she wanted to be a War Mage. Sara explained that she might not be able to cast the spell at all, but the girl had said she would try until it became obvious she was unable to do it.
People make all sorts of promises to themselves, ‘til the real work comes and smacks them in the face.
Oddly enough, when Sara mentioned that a Familiar was the basis of a War Mage’s power, she was unable to tell Alicia that they were also actually pixies. It was as if there was a block in her mind, a gag.
I’ll have to ask Alister about that next time we meet in the Aether.
“What makes you think I have the ability to become a War Mage in the first place?” Boon asked, raising her arms above her head in a stretch.
Sara considered this. Rationally, she knew it was because Boon had been able to handle the core, but that could have just been because she was a twin. The reality was that Sara just had a feeling. She couldn't explain it, but it was there.
“I don't know. There’s just something about you. Chances are you’re not a War Mage, but I figure it’s worth a try.”
Cora’s voice cut into the conversation from the speaker in the ceiling. “Actually, the chances may be higher than you think.”
Sara sat up excitedly. “Cora! How are you feeling? Back to normal? Shit, it’s good to hear your voice.”
Cora laughed lightly at Sara's exuberance. “I feel great. Sorry I’ve been keeping to myself, but I had to get all this new information sorted in my head. The core downloaded a lot of history into my brain, and I’ve been struggling to make sense of it. We have a lot to talk about.”
“Hang on, I need to get Grimms in here. He should hear this,” Sara said, tapping her comms and connecting with Grimms.
“Hmm? Hello?” Grimms’ normally deep baritone was well past gravelly.
“Grimms? Are you okay?” Sara asked, concerned at his unusual tone.
His voice perked up, now sounding only slightly woozy. “I’m fine, Captain, I was just asleep when you called.”
“Asleep? What time is it?”
“Three twenty eight,” Boon said, reading the time on her tablet and raising her eyebrows at the late hour.
“Oh, sorry to wake you, Grimms,” Sara apologized, embarrassed.
Grimms cleared the last of the sleep from his voice. “It’s no problem, ma’am. What can I do for you?”
“Can you come to my quarters? Cora and I need to chat with you about what she’s learned from the core.”
She heard him grunt his way out of bed as he said, “I’ll be there in a minute, ma’am.”
“There’s no need to get into uniform for this. Just put some pants on,” Sara said, smiling at the red-faced Boon.
There was a pause on the line, then a “Yes, ma’am,” and he disconnected.
Sara rubbed the lateness off her face with both hands. “I’ll bet you five bucks he comes in uniform.”
“You’re on. I’m getting to know our commander pretty well; I bet he comes in sweats and a robe,” Cora challenged.
“There is no way he comes in a robe. You’re on,” Sara countered gleefully, getting up and starting a pot of coffee.
By the time Sara put three cups of steaming coffee on the table, Grimms had arrived. To Sara's amazement, he was wearing sweatpants, a tee shirt, and a fuzzy, black robe.
“Well, shit,” she grumbled, taking in the slightly disheveled Grimms.
He looked older than when he was on duty. He had the beginnings of a white five o’clock shadow, and the robe put a few years on him, if for no other reason than Sara had never seen anyone but her father in a robe.
“Did you lose a bet?” Grimms teased, a half-smile melting a few years from his face.
Sara squinted at him, then, handing him a coffee, said, “Cora told you to wear that robe, didn't she?”
He didn't answer, instead hiding his smile behind the mug before taking a sip. Sara rolled her eyes a
nd waved for Boon to join them at the table.
“Shouldn’t I leave, ma’am? I don't want to intrude,” the girl said, inching closer to the door.
Before Sara could say anything, Cora spoke. “You should stay. This is going to be common knowledge soon enough, and if your training goes like Sara and I think it might, you’ll need it. You should probably just get used to being near Sara from now on, Alicia.”
“Oh, um, okay,” she mumbled, and slipped into an empty chair at the table, taking a sip of the hot, black brew.
Grimms took another empty chair and, adjusting his robe, asked, “What’s this all about?”
Cora took the lead. “My time sleeping in the tank was not wasted. The core downloaded quite a bit of information directly into my brain, which was a bit like an update patch for an old operating system.”
Grimms’ eyebrows rose slightly. “That’s helpful.”
“Quite. As you know, Sara is teaching Boon how to cast the Familiar spell, testing her ability to become a War Mage. Sara had mentioned that War Mages were pretty rare, and that the chances were low that Boon would be able to cast the spell at all. I told her it was more likely than she thought.”
Grimms took another sip. “Why is that?”
“Because being a War Mage—or any mage, for that matter—is about genetics,” Cora explained.
“Like eye color?” Sara asked, making sure they were talking about the same thing.
“Exactly. We knew the Elif genetically manipulated humans to be receptive to the Aether. What we didn't know was that the gene was already a part of our DNA, but had been turned off thousands of years ago to keep humanity from being found by the Teifen and Elif,” Cora said excitedly. When no one reacted, she said, “I should start at the beginning.”
Sara gave a laugh. “Please do. I’m already a little lost.”
“The Ancient humans suspected they would eventually be betrayed. So, in secret, they prepared four planets to hide away a number of humans, ensuring their survival . But the betrayal came much faster than anticipated, catching humanity off-guard. The plan had been to send four dreadnoughts, flown by War Mage twin sets, full of refugees and supplies, to set up a society on each of the planets. But in the end, only two of the dreadnoughts were able to escape, and with only their naval crews on board. The Navy had an unusually high number of Mages in it, so the crews started with an unusually high concentration of the Aether gene,” Cora said, her voice taking on the motherly, slightly condescending tone Sara knew all too well.
“Okay, but what does that have to do with there being more War Mages? It sounds like there were only two War Mages per planet,” Sara asked, draining her coffee and getting up to refill it.
“Well, for a quick and dirty explanation, I’ll keep it simple, but understand that the actual mechanisms are a little more complex,” Cora warned.
“Simple is good. I’m too tired for a thorough genetics lesson,” Grimms grunted, holding his empty cup up for Sara to refill.
“The Aether gene has two expressions: dominant and recessive. Everyone has the gene, so everyone can channel Aether. If a person has two dominant genes, then they can only channel. If they have one recessive and one dominant, then they are able to split their mind in two and become a mage. And if they have two recessive genes, they can combine two spellforms while maintaining the integrity of them both, and become a War Mage. There is a whole lot more to it, but in the simplest terms, this is how it works. I’m telling you all this because there is evidence that all identical twins have at least one recessive gene, which means they can all at least become mages.”
Sara nodded along with Cora’s explanation, “So, if you start with a higher number of recessive genes in the pool, you end up with more people having them. Like if you have an unusually high number of blue-eyed people, the number will increase over time.”
“Exactly,” Cora said.
Boon spoke up, to everyone’s surprise. “So, couldn't I just take a genetic test and see if the Familiar spell would work for me?”
“Theoretically, yes. But I don't know how to do that. The core doesn’t have a human genome map on it. I assume we could eventually find the specific gene, but that would be a job for geneticists back on Earth, and I would guess it would take them a few years to get it down. For now, trial and error are our best options,” Cora answered.
“You heard the woman, Boon. Practice is the best medicine,” Sara said with a smile as she slid Grimms’ refilled mug across the table to him, and sat down.
Boon hung her head a little. “Yes, ma’am.”
“It’s not all bad, Boon; you’re at least learning how to create complicated spellforms, which will help you in your studies if the Familiar spell doesn’t work for you,” Sara assured her.
“So, are you saying that only twins can become War Mages?” Grimms asked, getting the conversation back on track.
“No, but twins are much more likely to have the ability. According to the core, it was very rare in the past for the recessive trait to be passed down, even if both parents were War Mages. This is where the gene expression gets fuzzy; it’s a lot more complicated than a simple binary gene expression, and there are other genes that determine the final pairing. Long story short, anyone has the potential to have the pairing to become a War Mage… it’s just more likely if they are a twin.” Cora paused for a beat before continuing. “Though I wouldn't be surprised if we find out that a lot more individuals can become War Mages, with the concentration of Mages that came to Earth in that final escape.”
“Are you saying that all humans on Earth are descended from those who landed there on the dreadnought? Didn't that happen, like, thirty thousand years ago? Fossils of human remains exist that are older than that. Where did they come from?” Sara asked, cocking her head, trying to make the numbers work.
“Funny story, that. Before the core on Earth—the one from the dreadnought—went offline, it reported to the rest of the cores that there were humans already on Earth when they arrived, but then it was switched off before it could explain where they had come from,” Cora said thoughtfully.
“The cores can communicate with each other?” Grimms asked, latching onto the strategic information like the good commander he was.
Cora gave a good-hearted laugh. “Right, I knew you would pick up on that, Grimms; ever the thinker, you are,” she noted, genuine admiration in her voice. “It amazes me you’re not higher ranked than a colonel.”
Somewhere along the way, these two became a team. I haven’t heard Cora talk that way to anyone in a long time. I would be jealous if it weren’t so good for the ship. Okay, maybe I’m a little jealous, Sara thought, sizing up the half-smile Grimms was sporting.
Grimms, his face flushed at the compliment, waved it away. “I wouldn’t want anything higher. Too much desk work.”
Cora laughed and then answered his original question. “The cores can communicate with each other, which is the reason we need to have this conversation. They do so instantaneously, and over any distance. They are all connected through the Aether, almost as if they are the same core, just in different locations,” Cora said, unable to hide her excitement.
Everyone was quiet while the implications sank in—except for Boon, who was a little lost. “Why is that such a big deal? Mages can already send messages through the Aether.”
Grimms gave a grunt. “But it still takes time. Even at a hundred times the speed of the best warp, the amount of time it takes for a message to reach the recipient is a disadvantage, and slows down response times. Reactions are the key to winning any battle,” he explained to her, then turned his attention back to Cora. “We need to get this system installed on all the ships in the fleet. How do we make more cores?”
“That’s the rub. The plans are not on the core itself. It mentions that the War Mages kept the process secret, even from their own people. The advantage a core gave was far too great to fall into enemy hands.”
Sara smacked the table in
frustration. “Great. So the only ones who know how to make a core are all dead. What are we going to do now?”
“I think you should go find the Dreadnought hidden on Earth. Maybe we can find some answers there,” Cora proposed.
“Do we know where it is?” Sara asked, liking the idea.
“Not a clue.”
Chapter 5
“You ready?” Baxter asked, leaning into Sara's quarters with a big smile on his face.
Sara was in the middle of a yoga routine, not quite having worked up a sweat, but getting close. Her shift on the bridge had put a crick in her neck, as she’d sat for six hours with nothing to do while the Regis towed them home. She figured a quick set would work out her muscles without much trouble. She was currently in Downward Dog, and peeked under her arm to see the large man leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed.
“Ready for what?” she asked, frowning slightly as she lifted her right leg and swung it forward, her torso coming up into Warrior One.
“For that beer I owe you,” he said, his white teeth brightening his face with childlike glee.
Sara had to laugh at his enthusiasm. A beer did sound good right then; even if what they had on the ship was all non-alcoholic. She was determined to finish out the routine, however.
“Can you give me ten minutes to finish up and change, or is this a limited time offer?” she asked, flowing into Warrior Two.
He came in and sat at the small table. “Take your time. I’m not on duty for a few shifts.” He leaned back with his hands behind his head, as if the hard plastic chair was a recliner.
Sara shook her head in exasperation, but didn't tell him to leave. She felt comfortable around Baxter; He was like a rock in the tumultuous waves of her first command, something she could grab onto if she felt overwhelmed.
That was a weird way of putting that, she thought as she floated down to Plank, and proceeded through the Chaturanga. I mean, Baxter is a solid guy, and I trust him, but I don't want to grab onto him. Her face reddened, and not from exertion.
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