AWOL

by Traci Harding

  The Qusay wasn’t faltering in her stance, but like all kind-hearted martyrs she had no poker face. The truth lay in the fear behind her eyes. ‘Valoureans!’ The Qusay commanded them to attention. ‘Arrest General Prochazka for treason.’

  The Qusay’s guards moved in on the general.

  ‘I have not committed treason yet.’ The general’s claim confused the troops, who refrained from seizing their leader without hearing her out. ‘You all have Satomi’s memory to reference; search it and know for yourselves that she will betray us all.’

  As expected, within moments all the Valoureans began to look to their Qusay with a fierce disdain.

  ‘Fear not,’ the general assured the assembly, as a restraining device clamped around her Qusay’s ankle and locked closed at Prochazka’s mental command. Satomi returned to her true form and the general continued, ‘I have taken measures to ensure that Clarona shall never return to claim this throne and see us all imprisoned or worse!’

  ‘No,’ Satomi objected. ‘You can’t shut the life support in the vault off, thousands of our fellow countrywomen would die —’

  ‘A thousand psychic warriors more powerful than any of us here,’ Prochazka reminded the Valoureans. ‘You may rest assured, Clarona will return with a formidable army at her back! But I now have the means to control the Phemoray. Instead of having them command us, we shall command them!’ She held high the ring on her finger, and her Valoureans cheered this notion.

  ‘That ring doesn’t control the Phemoray, but the cursed crew of Dead Man Downs on Sermetica,’ Satomi interjected. ‘The very men our foremothers banished from this planet during the sexual revolution. Once it was protected by a golden energy that gave the general control over the curse, but that golden shield is fast fading along with her dedication to me, the true Qusay she swore to serve,’ she warned. ‘If she releases those curses they will control her, not the other way around.’

  ‘True, in part,’ Prochazka admitted, and the Valoureans were perplexed by their general’s candour. ‘That curse is contained in a smelting vat,’ she explained, ‘and all the souls contained therein are beholden to this ring. Is that not true, Majesty?’

  ‘That is true,’ Satomi admitted, as she had been present when the spirits of the vat had agreed to serve Prochazka.

  ‘The remaining two parts of the curse are also attached to metal items,’ Prochazka pointed out. ‘Can you see where I might be going with this?’

  ‘You can’t seriously be considering combining them!’ Satomi was horrified. ‘They must be destroyed!’

  ‘Under my control these demons will make Phemoria the most feared planet in the USS!’ Prochazka announced, and the Valoureans all cheered her intention.

  ‘I did not sanction this, nor would I ever.’ Satomi made it clear she thought her deluded. ‘Your love of Power has defeated even your love of Phemoria. Those curses will eat you alive and control you, just as they have controlled all those who have attempted to preside over them in the past!’

  ‘I know more about the dark arts than Queen Thurraya did herself! I have made the subject a life study. I was ignorant once, but now I shall have my revenge. When you came to me and begged for my help to take your throne, I thought that you would put your people first. But when I realised your true intent and discovered that you had not had your feelings for your man whore and that bastard you bore together erased, it was clear that other measures would have to be taken to ensure the continued dominance of women on Phemoria.’

  ‘If you saw my memories of my husband and our son,’ Satomi’s sentiment was filling her eyes with tears, which made Prochazka become rather nauseous, ‘you must know that however misguided, they are not the beasts you make them out to be.’

  ‘I took the liberty of having those sentiments erased before I passed on your Power to these women, so they are not infected with your weakness,’ the general spat at her in disgust. ‘If you would rather die for your family and leave your home planet absent a Qusay of age, I shall grant that wish.’

  Satomi gasped as Prochazka exerted her will to make the Qusay freeze and be silent. ‘Now I am inciting rebellion. Your granddaughter will prove much easier to control.’ The general grabbed a blade from the arsenal of weapons on her belt and slashed Satomi’s throat open with it. ‘You are the true Qusay no longer.’ She watched the life and blood gush from Satomi’s body, and let her drop to the floor. ‘Long live Qusay Thurraya the second,’ Prochazka uttered. ‘I shall adore her, and that love shall be my shield.’ Prochazka turned to instruct the dazed Valoureans, ‘Watch her … and make sure no one resurrects her again. Shoot anyone who enters this room who is not me. I’ll be back within the hour.’

  She had hoped to string Satomi along a while yet, and her death did add some urgency to this mission — it wasn’t going to take long for the crew of AMIE to come looking for their lost brats — but they would prove no competition to her once this undertaking was complete.

  In the Qusay’s private chamber just beyond her room of court, Trance and Ringbalin were seated at a table with the workstation retrieved from the seeding station, compiling files on the establishment as instructed.

  Ringbalin was enjoying the afternoon tea that had been laid out for them, but he felt very uncomfortable in the luxurious surrounds, aware of how dirty his clothes were. ‘I really don’t see why I am here?’

  ‘The chick in charge said to say put,’ advised the entity that had taken over his old friend. ‘Pass me one of those pink tarts.’

  Ringbalin was happy to, as he wasn’t serving any other purpose.

  ‘Ringbalin Malachi.’

  The call startled him and he turned in his chair to find a young fellow, much the same colouring as himself, but larger and rather more handsome.

  ‘Whoa!’ commented the hacker, shielding his eyes from the visitor. ‘What the fuck? Can you turn the aura down? It’s massive!’

  The fellow did have a rather positive glow about him, but Ringbalin couldn’t see auras, so he was not bothered. ‘Who are you?’ He stood to address the newcomer.

  ‘Telmo Dacre.’ He shook Ringbalin’s hand.

  ‘Yasper’s brother,’ Ringbalin acknowledged, having heard he was working with Zeven.

  ‘Yes indeed,’ Telmo warranted.

  ‘So Zeven is back.’ Ringbalin was hopeful this meant he might be going home soon.

  ‘I am about our captain’s urgent business.’ Telmo would not confirm or deny the statement, but looked to the dark fellow behind the workstation. ‘And who is your friend?’

  ‘This is Trance, but he’s not here right now; he’s channelling Reggie at present who used to be a hacker before the MSS caught up with him.’

  ‘How synchronous.’ Telmo grinned.

  ‘Hold on a second.’ Trance became mesmerised as he gazed about the room. ‘It’s not just your light-body, it’s many light-bodies.’ A delighted smile swept over his face. ‘So many beautiful women.’

  ‘All what women?’ Ringbalin couldn’t see anyone but Telmo where Trance was looking.

  ‘Hey, aren’t you the chick giving the orders here?’ Trance queried into empty space. ‘Have you died?’

  ‘No,’ Telmo informed Trance. ‘The woman on the throne at present is only posing as the Qusay-Sabah Clarona, the spirit you see before you is the real Qusay.’

  ‘That is true,’ Ringbalin conveyed to his associate. ‘It is the Qusay-Sabah Clarona’s sister, Satomi, who is ruling in her stead.’

  ‘The plot thickens,’ said Reggie, in a detached fashion.

  ‘But the Qusay’s ghost is here?’ Ringbalin sought clarification.

  ‘The bodies of the anointed Qusay and all these women are being held captive elsewhere in the city. In a vault, designed and built under guidance of the Phemoray,’ Telmo explained. ‘That’s why I am here —’

  They all heard cheering coming from the Qusay’s room of court.

  ‘What’s happening in there, I wonder?’ Ringbalin wasn’t game to find out
.

  ‘It’s a good question,’ Telmo warranted, most curious.

  ‘Any Valourean with Trance’s skill will see if so much as a ghost sticks their head in that room,’ Ringbalin cautioned the company he couldn’t see.

  ‘You need to lose that.’ Telmo noted Ringbalin’s restraint, and it vanished.

  ‘No, please,’ Ringbalin panicked. ‘I’d rather keep it.’

  ‘You’d rather have your Power at your disposal this day,’ Telmo warranted. ‘I promise you.’

  Trance clicked his fingers to draw their attention. ‘I found a security camera feed to reception.’ He swung the screen about so that they could view the scene unfolding in the court room. ‘I think you may have another coup on your hands.’

  They had turned the hut on Oceane upside down looking for Thurraya, and when Mythric could not teleport himself to her and Aurora could not find her with her remote vision, their concern tripled.

  ‘She would not have left this kitten behind if she’s gone anywhere of her own accord.’ Aurora was cuddling the animal, which was unsettled by her panic. ‘Someone has taken her, I know it. We need to report this to the captain —’

  ‘Hey, guys,’ Vadik waved them onto the verandah and pointed to an incoming craft. ‘Is that one of ours?’

  ‘Since when do we bother using craft?’ Mythric made haste to investigate, and it only took him a second to identify the vessel. ‘Phemorians.’

  ‘They took Thurraya!’ Aurora freaked out.

  A red beam shot down from the craft and began scanning the ground in front of the hut. ‘Then why are they still here?’ Mythric grabbed both his comrades. ‘This hut is a target, we need to move!’ He teleported them to a rocky mound that overlooked the base.

  There was a cave in a ledge here where they could conceal themselves. A heartbeat later the hut was blown to pieces but the red beam continued its search.

  ‘They’re here for the curses,’ Mythric realised, as the search beam locked onto the large plinth of a rock Zeven and Telmo had brought back from the otherworld with them and the item vanished. ‘Shit! I can’t retrieve the canister hidden inside that boulder as I have no idea what it looks like. When did they develop particle manipulation?’

  ‘I know what it looks like.’ Vadik focused on producing the said item, to no avail. ‘Maybe I’m not practised enough with PK?’

  ‘If they are storing the item in a particle state that would prevent anyone with PK retrieving it until it was reconstituted.’

  ‘I don’t care about the damned curses!’ Aurora lost it. ‘We need to find my daughter!’

  ‘They won’t harm her,’ Mythric insisted. ‘Moving the Soul Keep is far more urgent. Not to AMIE …’ Mythric raked his brain to think of a temporary safe haven.

  ‘Take her back, report,’ Vadik insisted. ‘I’ll distract these guys and take the rock containing the Soul Keep to the hut on Frujia.’

  ‘You sure?’ Mythric wasn’t questioning his ability. ‘You have to be touching it to teleport it with you.’

  ‘I know what it looks like, I can teleport it to me.’ Vadik stepped out of the cramped shelter and began summoning up a whirlwind. ‘Go!’ Vadik urged.

  Mythric grabbed Aurora, who was still clinging to her daughter’s pet, and headed for the captain’s office.

  Upon their return to AMIE, Taren and Zeven were met with utter chaos. Aurora was in tears as she informed Zeven that their daughter was missing. Jazmay and Yasper were also ropable as Fari could not be found either.

  ‘If Satomi’s spy was posing as my son,’ Jazmay seethed, ‘then Fari has been in a Phemorian prison for three years!’

  ‘I let Fari tinker in the tech room,’ Kalayna confessed, as she placed all the prototypes of the weapon she had crafted on the captain’s desk. ‘The Phemorians may know all about our new weapon and could use it against us.’ Kalayna outlined the worse case scenario, sorry to add to the captain’s problems.

  ‘Get back to Vadik,’ Lucian instructed Mythric. ‘See if he managed to spirit away the Soul Keep before the Phemorians got their hands on it.’

  ‘I was only gone an hour!’ Taren was shocked by just how many disasters had erupted in that time.

  ‘They got Chironjivi’s curse, and I believe they are storing it in a particle state so that it cannot be retrieved.’ Mythric brought Taren up to speed.

  ‘Go!’ Lucian insisted, and Mythric vanished.

  ‘Thus ends our truce.’ Taren had hoped to have time to plan and execute this rebellion carefully, but it seemed the universe had other ideas.

  ‘Telmo!’ Kalayna was overjoyed to see him appear in the room and ran to embrace him. ‘It’s been so long, I thought I’d never see you again.’

  ‘I need you,’ he told her.

  ‘I need you too,’ she replied, teary-eyed, thinking his confession romantic.

  ‘There is some fairly alien technology I need your advice on.’ He explained that his need was more a practical one.

  ‘Oh.’ Kalayna was a little deflated. ‘Sure, I’ll grab my belt.’

  Telmo manifested the said tool belt in his hand and gave it to her.

  ‘When did you learn to do that?’ Kalayna strapped her belt on.

  ‘Long story.’ Telmo declined going into detail at this time.

  ‘You are Telmo?’ Yasper was stunned to finally meet him. ‘You are my —’

  ‘Brother,’ Telmo concluded. ‘And as pleased as I am to meet you, sentiment must wait.’

  ‘Obviously,’ Kalayna rolled her eyes.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Zeven queried, expecting him to be otherwise detained.

  ‘Prochazka has killed Satomi and taken control of the palace and the Valoureans,’ he reported. ‘She intends to shut down the vault, and to combine the three curses to use for her own ends.’

  ‘No!’ Aurora looked to Zeven, who was mortified on many levels. ‘That makes Thurraya Qusay of Phemoria!’

  ‘My mother is in that vault,’ Taren protested.

  ‘And my sister,’ Jalila seconded Taren’s dismay. ‘We cannot allow them to succeed —’

  ‘Satomi is dead?’ Mythric turned pale, having arrived back in the room unnoticed.

  ‘Did you find Vadik?’ the captain queried.

  ‘Parts of him.’ Mythric was clearly unnerved. ‘The Phemorians now have all three parts of the curse in their possession.’ He sat down to process the horror.

  ‘Damn,’ Zeven stressed under his breath. ‘He was a good man.’

  ‘If he’s in pieces, I can’t resurrect him,’ Swithin was sorry to advise Taren and the captain, as he knelt in front of Mythric.

  ‘But Satomi I can do,’ Swithin encouraged Mythric to keep the faith. ‘If we are quick.’

  ‘Load up, everyone.’ Taren wasn’t prepared to waste another second procrastinating. ‘If Prochazka is chasing curses, she is not in the palace, so we have a small window of opportunity to seize it. Kassa, Ayliscia and Aurora, stay with the ship.’

  ‘No bloody way!’ Aurora passed her kitten to Kassa and claimed one of Kalayna’s weapons from the captain’s desk. ‘Ayliscia can be the remote viewer on this one, I am coming with you.’

  ‘And me?’ Khalid queried those in charge.

  ‘Haven’t you done enough!’ Mythric found his determination and as he stood Swithin had to hold him back from lashing out at Khalid.

  ‘Not nearly,’ he replied calmly. ‘If those old prophecies are correct, then the curse of the Phemoray cannot be banished until I return to Phemoria.’

  ‘He’s right.’ Zeven looked to Jalila. ‘The secret Phemorian prophecy you spoke of.’

  Jalila concurred with a nod. ‘When the first prince of Phemoria returns, the rule of Phemoray will end.’

  ‘I am not the first true prince.’ Zeven referred her to Khalid. ‘He is the one you’ve been searching for.’

  Jalila’s eyes opened wide in wonder.

  ‘Then you are with us,’ Taren advised Khalid.

  ‘No!’ Mythr
ic was strongly opposed.

  ‘If you cannot work with the agenda, then you stay here.’ Taren gave him an ultimatum.

  Mythric smothered his protest, grabbed one of the new weapons from the captain’s desk, and joined the crew returning to the chamber behind the queen’s room of court on Tonissia.

  ‘What is taking so long?’ Ringbalin stressed in a whisper, as he paced out his frustration. Satomi was dead in the next room and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it, and that being the case they no longer had the Qusay’s consent to be in the palace.

  ‘The Qusay suggests that stressing will not aid your Powers to return any quicker,’ Trance passed on Clarona’s message to Ringbalin. ‘Now if you would all shut up and let me focus that would be — Uh-oh.’

  ‘What now?’ Ringbalin approached the table where Trance was holding his hands over the keypad, the keys of which were furiously responding to his instructions.

  ‘I just intercepted an order from General Prochazka to shut the vault down,’ he advised. ‘But it probably won’t be long before she checks in to ensure the order was carried out.’

  This news did not aid Ringbalin in his attempt to remain calm. ‘We’re —’

  ‘Shhh,’ Trance insisted, looking to the empty space beside him. ‘Hard to say,’ he commented at last, and Ringbalin assumed he was conversing with the Qusay’s spirit form. ‘Clearly this vault has a self-contained system, so you need to get Trance inside it. I can only interfere with the outer defences from here.’ He listened for a moment and then nodded. ‘You go ahead as Telmo instructed, I won’t say a word and neither will he.’

  Ringbalin wondered why he was being signalled to. ‘Say a word about what?’

  ‘Seeing the Qusay,’ Reggie conveyed.

  ‘But I haven’t seen her?’ Ringbalin was perplexed.

  ‘That’s the spirit,’ Reggie confirmed with a wink from Trance.

  ‘What?’ Ringbalin frowned as his friend looked back to his monitor.