by Reiter
“So, in the name of a life-saving course change, what say you to your orders now?” Talkurra asked, still smiling.
“I shall take my leave of the Mistress Traveler,” the man said, trying his best not to shake.
“Stand down,” Talkurra commanded and another click sounded out. The Pleasure Therapist did not need any further incentive and quickly grabbed his clothes as he made his way to the door. When it closed behind him, Talkurra chuckled, mimicking more clicking noises.
“Mistress!” a voice called from out in the corridor as a fist banged hard against her door.
“Enter,” Talkurra commanded and a large figure stepped inside before putting knee to the floor. “Murgon?” Talkurra asked.
“It is I,” he replied.
“You are Bothrynn’s guard,” she recalled. “Those shoulders explain the booming knock!”
“Forgive me, Mistress but the need is great.”
“Then enough of the ceremony and protocols, Warrior.”
“We just received a high-priority signal on the communications grid,” the Warrior Supreme reported.
“How high?”
“Priority status, Mistress. Transmission codes are being sky-scripted.”
With that, Talkurra was up and out of bed, wrapping her robe around her as she walked out on her balcony.
“To your left, Mistress,” Murgon directed, and Talkurra quickly turned to look upon an image that was being projected across the night sky. She gasped and stumbled, grabbing on to the railing of the balcony. “Mistress?”
“Shut down the comm-grid immediately!” Talkurra commanded, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. “Send a Stop Command to the Interplanetary Hub!”
“It is done!” Murgon said, entering the commands into his PC.
“And I want a log of anyone who attempted to connect to the grid using those series of frequencies,” Talkurra added as she quickly turned, pulling her robe from her body while reaching for her shirt.
“That will take some time, Mis–”
“Take the damn time, Warrior,” Talkurra interrupted as she grabbed her pants. “Get someone to clear that message from the sky and I need the complete history of the parties responsible for it being written. Place the entire facility on high alert and summon more personnel! I don’t care where you have to go to get them, just get them!
“If this is your boy, Nugar, and my sight of Light tells me it is… then this boy has already thinned our ranks,” Talkurra contemplated. “And even at this I have to wait for his next move to orchestrate plan my counter-plan. Well done indeed, Nugar!
“I take it that Isak is still playing with his toy?” Talkurra asked as she reached for her boots. Murgon looked as if he was about to try and correct Talkurra, but thought better of the effort and simply replied with an affirmative nod. “Of course he is… and the one he is seeking has sought us out!
“Worse than that, he has been trained by Nugar and it shows,” Talkurra declared, pointing at her clock. “The star has yet to crest the horizon and this is the s’tonki when posted men are at their worst. Those frequencies are nothing but a distraction… one we are forced to react to. I doubt we could afford to overlook it.
“Tend me!” she commanded, holding out her right hand. Her Osamu flew to her hand with her weapons belt looped around it. Talkurra was walking out of her room as she locked her belt buckle into place. “Well, old friend, it would seem your latest pupil has come looking for his teacher!”
** b *** t *** o *** r **
The descent might have been more enjoyable, had Dungias been about the business of leisure and sport. The reason for his visitation to the Vinthur megacity had nothing to do with tourism and everything to do with justice! A great wrong had been committed… long before his Kwinsoah was even born, and so many more wrongs had been performed in the name of the first. The unlawful abduction of Nugar was simply the most recent of which Dungias was aware. His Osamu was over his left shoulder, the Osamu of his teacher over his right, and both were giving him impressions of interest, anxiety and anger. He used those impressions to fuel his drive and keep his focus.
“As I expected,” he thought as the building that was his target seemed to come alive with activity. Lights were activated on many levels, both inside the building and out. “I certainly hope they are surprised and reacting through emotion. Yet, in case they are not…” Dungias sent a command through the headband which cued a transmission from his PC.
It had not taken much effort to review the logs regarding the faculty of the Invoker Campus; who they were, where their offices had been placed, and whether or not they would be present to receive packages. Dungias managed to find three names that fit the necessary requirements of office location and absentee status. He had sent six packages, two boxes per candidate, to each of the three names. In one package he had placed a sizeable amount of unformatted plastiform, a very common product used in the making of everything from cups and plates, to furniture, to building materials. Unformatted, plastiform was always in liquid form. To get the material to harden, all it took was the introduction of a chemical agent, known as zaldric acid, followed quickly by a bombardment of radiation as the material was being cast into a mold or formed by hand. Without the radiation burst to effectively cool the material, the combination of the plastiform and zaldric acid would only continue to react, gaining in both heat and mass. The second packages only held zaldric acid, broken down into its three components, along with a miniature robotic telescopic arm complete with a syringe and tubing. With the transmission received, the arms punched through the sides of the packages and, provided the directions posted all over the packages of this side up were followed, it would punch through the walls of both packages and insert the mixed chemical into the plastiform. Looking at the campus through his goggles, Dungias could see two points begin to show heat increase. It was one more than he needed, and one shy of optimal. The plan was proceeding nicely.
Dungias took himself into another dive before lifting his head to bring his forward progress to a halt. He back-flipped and tumbled as his body climbed, slowed, and then began to drop. Coming out of the roll, Dungias aimed the toes of his boots for his drop target. Deactivating the leg flap, Dungias used the gliding wings under his arms to correct his position as he descended. He leaned forward to slow himself and then deactivated the wings, landing on the helmet and shoulder of one of the running guards. Driving his head into the stone of the catwalk knocked the guard unconscious and startled the man who had been running right behind him. Dungias hissed as he looked up at the man who was anything but a seasoned soldier. He was frantic and actually managed to fire his rifle while trying to pull it from his shoulder.
“Perfect!” Dungias thought as he leapt forward, driving his shoulder into the man’s ribs and knocking him down. He heard more of the guards speaking to one another, trying to find out where the blast had come from. Dungias’ opponent was not unconscious, but he was stunned, and Dungias needed the moaning. He jumped off the catwalk and activated the glider wings as he rode the wind to the opposite side of the huge campus. Alarms sounded before he was in position, but it did not faze him.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
Talkurra received an emergency transmission on her PC. She was halfway to the area where Isak had been holding, and interrogating, Nugar.
“High alert has been achieved and internal scans have detected two points of incredibly high levels of iro-form generation in the faculty complex,” the guard reported without waiting for Talkurra to identify herself. “Stars of my Fathers!” the young man exclaimed.
“What is it?”
“We’ve got one man– I mean two men reported down atop the wall in the same area. No sign of their attacker!”
“The faculty complex?!” Talkurra whispered before coming to a possible explanation in her mind. “Guard, calm yourself and tell me if Invoker Isak has an office in the faculty complex.”
“The attack happened just over it!”
“And the distance from the attack to the energy points?”
“They are on the same level as the Invoker’s office.”
“A three-pronged attack? It may not be him after all,” Talkurra said softly.
“Mistress?” Murgon inquired to know what she was thinking.
“When Isak first returned, he kept Nugar in his office, did he not?”
“Nearly two star-terms,” Murgon replied. “… before the interrogation was… elevated.”
“Either Isak is the target or someone is working with old information,” Talkurra concluded as she started to run in the opposite direction she had been walking. “Do what you can to lock down the faculty complex, and tell them we’re on our way to that location. Also, have someone advise the Arch Invoker of what has happened.
“It seems your worth was underestimated, Master Traveler,” she thought.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
Nugar breathed somewhat easier. Yet another probing effort had been pushed to its limits and had come away empty-handed. Isak, who had been pacing across the room, came away from his own thoughts and frowned at the result of another failed attempt.
“I had to resign from his mind,” the Mind Castor proclaimed after brushing back his red hair. He tried getting up from his chair, but failed and had to sit again. On his third attempt, receiving assistance from Ulla, he managed to stand.
“What do you mean resign?!” Isak croaked bitterly, trying to contain his anger regarding the bound Vinthur. His time had grown short and the First Princess would be making contact soon, expecting more results than what he possessed at the moment. “And remove that smirk!” Isak commanded, firing another bolt of majikul energy into Nugar’s chest.
“It’s been three star-terms, Cenkal!” Isak stressed.
“Yes, my Master,” the Mind Castor stated as he rubbed the sides of his throbbing head. “… and that is not counting the four my predecessor spent trying to achieve the same breach. I am certainly aware of the status of this search, my Master, and this is not the sort of report I wish to post to your station.
“It is not as if he possesses the strength of mind to deny my probes,” Cenkal added.
“Then what is it?!” Isak yelled.
“It is his reaction to the probes,” Cenkal stated. “I have read logs he posted as a Master Traveler, and I doubt the accuracy of those records. No mind that young could last as long as his has, or negotiate the obstacles I have created with the ease he has demonstrated. As soon as I break down a wall, I see a truth, but it is not rooted in his mind as a truth… it is one he has manufactured.”
Isak stopped pacing and turned to rush Nugar. Ulla rushed to cut him off and barely succeeded in her aim.
“Master, no!”
“Get out of my way!” Isak commanded. “We will render him unconscious and lay siege to his dreams!” Isak took hold of Ulla and was about to throw her into the far wall when a stumbling and weak Cenkal touched his fingertip to the back of Isak’s head.
“We cannot try that again, Master,” he projected into Isak’s mind. The sensation of the forced telepathy made Isak take a physical pause. “That is what Wenzori tried, and he has yet to recover. This Traveler has seen so much and experienced so many things we know nothing of… he can create whole worlds in the flash of the merest light. Deep and twisted realities… if these are worlds he has visited, it is a wonder he is alive and sane himself.”
“You claim too much in my regard, Mind Invoker!” Nugar shouted as he started laughing. “It is something to see a Great Arch Invoker not able to do his own work. What say you, Isak, your knuckles too weak to come inside here and weave a spell?! What are you, Vinthur or vermisar?!”
Isak wanted to shout at the Traveler, but Cenkal’s hold was too strong, and he forced his superior to remain calm. “Merciful Light of our Mothers!” Cenkal thought. “He can still hear our thoughts!!!”
“Well it’s not as if you are whis–” Nugar started as he looked up. “Oh! I suppose you were whispering after all. Well, no matter then,” Nugar said, letting his head drop. Cenkal released Isak and tried to brace himself for the Arch Invoker’s well-noted rage. He stumbled more than he wanted to, but the onslaught he was expecting never came.
“Rest easy, my kommis,” Isak said softly as he patted Cenkal on his shoulder before taking hold of him to steady his body. “If you are strong enough to quell my rage, then it is assured we have sorely underestimated the wherewithal of this Traveler. We–”
“My Master!” a guard called into the room.
“What is it?!” Isak said, frustrated at the thought of another distraction.
“The communications grid reports a communiqué for you. My Master, it originates from Quantia Prime!”
“And it would appear that we are out of both time and options,” Isak concluded and sighed. “Excuse me for a moment. I must tend to this immediately.”
“It will give me time to recover,” Cenkal said, cutting a hateful glare over to Nugar.
“You do that,” Isak said as he started for the door. He stopped for a moment and looked back into the chamber. He appeared to be pondering something, but simply cast his eyes to the floor. “I will… return as soon as I can.” The door closed and Cenkal quickly made his way to a chair, using every steady fixture along the way for support. Ulla looked at the closed door and then slowly turned her head to Nugar. His eyes were already on her and he dropped his head, chuckling.
“As I feared… this moment was inevitable,” Nugar chuckled. “But let me assure you that the rumors of what it is to lay with a Traveler far exceed the actual experience.
“However,” Nugar said, giving Ulla a second glance. “… in your case I doubt you have anything to compare it to. So go ahead and give it a try. I promise not to laugh if you promise not to cry.”
Ulla had heard enough of the Traveler four star-terms back, and it was the presence of her Master that had kept her calm and silent. But now Isak was on his way to speak with the First Princess; he would have to report failure to the heir of the throne. That was the mark too great to bear, and Ulla would have the truth or the Master Traveler’s life-force in her hands. She did not scream; her anger was too focused for that sort of display. Her eyes glowed orange as her hands were covered in a black light.
“Ulla, no!” Cenkal said. He had not even turned to face her. He could feel the power of her spell and knew it was no simple feat she was attempting… but that was not all the Mind Castor felt. “Ulla, wait!” Cenkal turned in his chair to see Ulla come away from the wall, running. She was in her third stride when her head stopped abruptly while her feet were still in the effort of charging. The back of her head and neck were the first things to hit the floor, but Cenkal was sure the fall was the least of her worries. She had conjured a major spell, one that had been interrupted, and the force of the spell was doubling back against her.
The extended right arm of Dungias was the first thing to become visible. His stealth field might have been better than his teacher’s, but it had the same problem with maintaining the bent-light field the moment contact, which could be considered greater than passive, was made with the cloaked body. Holding a slender black rod in his right hand, it was Dungias’ right forearm that had delivered the punishing blow.
Without posing or making too much of a victory, Dungias turned, drew his pistol and fired. The blast passed under Cenkal’s left arm as he came up from his chair. The Mind Castor had not fully recovered from his ordeal in Nugar’s mind, but he was not about to allow Isak’s prize pass from this room without a fight.
“I know not who you are, but it will not matter when we mark your grave!” Cenkal’s left hand thrust forward and released a bolt of raw majikul energy. Dungias gave ground as he ducked and fired. His second shot was on target to strike the chest of Cenkal, but it was caught in the man’s right hand. Cenkal’s eyes flared in the exhilaration of the iro-form he had just prevented from doing any serious harm. A second bolt fle
w forward from the Vinthur, but much lower than the first and Dungias jumped over it, firing while he was in the air. Again Cenkal prevented the laser fire, throwing a third bolt for the center of Dungias’ body. It was smacked to the floor by the black rod as Dungias took a step forward and was gone from sight.
Cenkal threw his arms out from his sides and created a wave of energy that was as high as the ceiling and as low as the floor. Ulla was still pain-wracked from the energies she had summoned turning against her. The energy wave gave her a quicker and less painful death, but it caught nothing else and Cenkal realized too late that his target had not vanished from the room. Somehow he had made it to the other side before the wave was erected.
“Guards!” Cenkal shouted as he tried to turn and hurl another bolt. He was halfway into his turn when his body shuddered. The laser bolt cut through him, striking both lungs and heart. The door to the room opened and two Vinthur Warriors rushed in. The door was slammed on the chest and back of the second with the first blindsided by Nugar. The Traveler’s hand thrust had already crushed the Warrior’s airway before the warrior even felt Nugar’s hand.
“And here I was hoping to surprise one of those damn Invokers!” Nugar said and delivered the same neck strike to the pinned Warrior.
“The star-term is early yet, Kwinsoah,” Dungias said softly and Nugar was comforted by a very familiar voice. Dungias reached for his mask, but Nugar waved for him to stop.
“Leave it on,” he ordered. “We’re not out of this just yet.” Dungias slid his Osamu into the sleeve on his back while holstering his pistol at the same time. “And don’t get distracted by the gleam in my eyes, Dungi,” Nugar warned. “Your being here is in direct disobedience of my orders. My final orders for all you knew!”
