by Reiter
“Until our next conversation then, my good friend, Thought,” he thought, allowing his mind to release its hold as well. Soon he was swimming in the middle of nothingness and then he became nothingness.
Dark and cold became dim and warm to a numb body and a stunned mind. Dungias had never slept so deeply, and he was not sure he had been sleeping. He tried to open his eyes, but nothing came from it, and a sharp pain in his head made him moan.
“There you are,” a voice called out to him as the brightness of the room began to register to his eyes. Dungias tried to sit up, but found he could not move due to restraints. He immediately pulled against them, only have a soft and warm hand touch gently against his chest. “Easy!” the voice cautioned him and Dungias looked up at what could have been soft features, but were still too blurry for him to make out anything. “Remember the last time when you would not heed my directives.
“Or can it not hears of me in K’Vo?” the voice asked in broken Liangu.
“Saru!” Dungias called out.
There had been a number of thoughts and emotions that had passed through the young woman’s mind and heart over the past eight star-terms. The first had been astonishment when five Warrior Retainers of the K’Dalkian Council had come to arrest her with no formal charges. They had even threatened to harm the children she was tending to if she had tried to resist. One of the restraints had been locked around her arm when a Star Spike had penetrated the forearm of the Vinthur Retainer who had been securing her. Laejem had landed in the middle of the Warriors and demonstrated why he had been considered a candidate for officer status the moment he joined their ranks. Saru had taken the initiative to join in the fight, using her restraint as a bracer, finishing the wounded Warrior and taking his stunner to assist Laejem with another.
Saru had wanted to embrace and thank her brother for what he had done, but there was no time. A score of Warriors were in pursuit of him; the result of the five who had been sent to arrest him and had been dispatched… some to another trekking. Kommis and saytrah had been forced to flee, their combined passions and received instruction had afforded them passage away from their pursuers. Laejem’s Warrior skill and Saru’s love of nature blended wonderfully as the chasing Warriors were led through game trails and fields of poisonous vegetation. Saru had applied antidotes to their wounds and watched as the group of pursuers had slowed their progress until they were no longer following behind the cunning siblings.
Relying on the training they had received from their gemnur, they had run for a full star-term, finally reaching the small hidden three-seater fighter Nugar had stored for safe-keeping when Laejem first received his qualifications as a pilot. Following a very strict protocol, they had sent a transmission to five different places; each was an order of goods and supplies at a nearby starport. One of those merchants was a retired Mal-Vin pilot who always insisted on Nugar and his family never paying full price for their wares. It was understood that if they ever asked for a discount, it was code for an emergency request for assistance. The pilot, with access to more sophisticated equipment than the three-seater possessed, had actually launched a search for Nugar, finding him a lot closer to the K’Dalkian Core Planets than expected.
It had indeed been an interesting four star-terms, but the old three-seater fighter was now dock-linked to Nugar’s scout ship, the one Dungias had chosen for his mission, and Nugar had nothing ill to say of his young student’s choices. He had embraced his grandchildren and was grateful that they were safe, but it had been made clear how desperate certain parties were to have their way. Nugar had delighted them with the tale of his capture and his exodus via the efforts of Dungias. From that moment on, the young Malgovi student had been the patient of Saru’s most watchful eye.
Dungias had been badly burned across most of his body. The short-range teleporter he had used was only meant for distances of a thousand trams. It did not have the power for anything greater, and it was intended for use by one person. Dungias had jury-rigged the device to take in additional power from an outside source and allow a teleportation to the other side of the planet! They had ended up floating at the very edge of the atmosphere where the air was thin and the gravity nearly non-existent. The scout ship had erected a shield as soon as the duo had arrived, so their exposure was not a factor. Robots fixed with piton & cable guns fired their lines out and Nugar had taken hold of his unconscious student to get him aboard quickly. The outside power source, the ion-converter near the base of the shaft through which they had plunged, had provided more than enough power to do the job, but the extension of the effected field had caused the device to fail and send a power surge through the suit. Dungias had been slightly cooked and the suit was difficult to remove as some of its systems, including a security protocol, were still active and quite lethal. Dungias had been bandaged head to toe when Nugar received word that his grandchildren were on the run from the Council. Arranging a rendezvous with them had been a simple task, even with Saru’s list of herbs and salves she would need to treat the wounds Nugar had described to her.
Laejem had already been impressed with Dungias from his performance in the Iro-Games. Watching him run along the outside of Gavis Station had made the young Vinthur forget that Dungias was Malgovi, and he had no trouble with the fact that his sister had deep feelings for Nugar’s student. After he was told the tale (and let it be known that storytelling is a well-trained and honed skill among Travelers), he had looked upon Dungias as a kommis of standing greater than his own. He initially said nothing when Saru insisted on treating Dungias’ wounds. When he saw the progress she had been able to make in only three star-terms, he had said plenty, but it was all in praise of Saru’s skills. None of that had meant anything to Saru, however… not after Dungias awakened and called her name.
“Dungias,” she said softly before rushing to kiss him full on the mouth.
“This is… unexpected,” Dungias thought as his body relaxed and passion heated inside his heart. “Unexpected and perfect!” Saru was very surprised at her actions, and slightly taken aback by Dungias’ reaction, though elation soon overwhelmed any notion of doubt. When their lips finally parted she opened her eyes to see his were still closed.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, speaking in K’Vo again.
“Bittersweet,” he replied, smiling and soundly confusing the female Vinthur. “I have read many books, Saru, and in that collection I have assembled a number of favored authors. They are to my liking because what they write I can either easily access or generally prove. You have lessened me with your kiss, sweet woman. I have read what love is supposed to feel like. I can safely say that after tasting your perfection, one of my favored authors either never knew true love or he simply did not know what he was talking about!” Saru smiled as she stroked Dungias’ face before kissing Dungias once more. “Of course,” he continued. “… that only explains the bitter.”
“I think I understand the sweet, nyaka.” After saying the K’Vo word for beloved, the two kissed again. Dungias tried to move his arm to pull Saru closer, but his arm would not move. Saru noticed his attempt and patted his shoulder. “You were restrained because of your wounds… and because gemnur has had to pilot with passion,” Saru explained. “Your suit nearly killed you with a power surge… but don’t worry, you are on the mend.”
“That much I already knew,” Dungias replied, gazing up at Saru. “And you need not hover there, Master,” Dungias called out. His body had been restrained, but now that his senses were clear, his ears and nose detected Nugar in close proximity. “If I am strong enough to proclaim my love for your gemopadiah, I would like to think I can receive your visitation.”
“And with everything he has done, one sentence proves that he still needs training,” Nugar muttered as he walked into the room. “Never tell a parent you have feelings for their child, boy!”
“Any why not, gemnur?” Saru questioned.
“Indeed,” Dungias quickly added.
“Like
I said,” Nugar sighed. “… much training is needed… for you both!
“Saru, please assist Laejem with charting our course,” Nugar ordered.
“Yes, gemnur,” Saru answered quickly before kissing Dungias. “The word is nyaka, my man.”
“Nyaka,” Dungias repeated and Saru nodded before turning to leave. Nugar’s eyebrows remained lifted as he hit the switch to release his student from his bindings. “Thank you, Master,” Dungias said, rubbing his wrists.
“You’re welcome. But you may not wish to–” Nugar stopped speaking as Dungias sat up and swung his legs over the side. “Then again, we can only judge by the standards with which we’re familiar. Feeling strong, are we?”
“Strong is not the word I would use,” Dungias answered as he stretched.
“No, that would not be your way, would it?” Nugar said as he took inventory of Z’Gunok Tel Dungias. The memory of how the flames had engulfed his entire body was still strong in his mind. Already he had recovered his hair; it appeared to be thicker and of a brighter gleam. Though his skin was currently more gray than blue, it was smooth, and the only blemish was on his left arm where the control unit for the suit had been. From the looks of it, Saru’s herbal rubs were going to make short work of that as well. “Since I didn’t have my Osamu, Dungi, how did you find me?”
Dungias smiled as he looked up at his teacher. “Yours is not the only Osamu I have ever touched, Master.”
“How long were you in that corridor, boy?”
“Long enough to get a marking on everyone that was there,” he replied. “And given the power Talkurra has chosen as her Osamu’s expression, getting your location was simply a matter of looking through the eyes of her device.”
“We have both chosen the iro-form of Light,” Nugar concluded.
“Electromagnetism to be more specific,” Dungias added as he hopped from the bed to the floor. “You use more of the fundamental force than she is able. Her Osamu waits for the time when she will unlock its full potential. I do not think my visitation will help her realize this shortcoming. It certainly has not helped her relationship with her Osamu.”
“By the Stars,” Nugar thought, making sure his mind was guarded. He folded his arms and squinted. “I was in my second lifetime before I could read the Osamu of another… and I have yet to read anything of his Alpha save that it exists and knows I am trying to read it!
“You have chosen Gravity for your Osamu expression,” Nugar remarked. “Some would say that aside from the benefit of flight that is a poor choice.”
“And what would you say, Master?” Dungias quickly asked.
“Boy, I tremble at the thought of mere wood in your hands, let alone a voice of the Void!” Nugar said as he stepped back outside the room and picked up a small canvas bag. He handed it to Dungias. “I took the liberty of getting you some clothes. You dress while I talk.”
“Might I know the subject of this discussion?”
“One that is long overdue, my son,” Nugar said, looking at his student’s Osamu. He was reminded of the fact that it had been the Malgovi who had brought technology to the Vinthur. They possessed an innate talent with Math and Science; the two fulcrums upon which technology and space travel were balanced. In the decline of some stars and the birth of others, they had flocked, in increasing numbers, to the comfort and assumed superiority of iro-form generation. Yet here stood a Malgovi who was indeed a master of the two building blocks, and matters which seemed simple to him were incredibly challenging to the aged Traveler. He had only ever seen one other Osamu that could vary its dimensions. It was held in a keeping chamber and only displayed to hopefuls when they approached Master Traveler. A good three Star-Kisses past, a very impressionable and incredibly lucky young navigator had been allowed to hold the rod and observe as it changed in size. It too had belonged to a Malgovi Traveler, and Nugar had initially hesitated in telling his Dungi about him. The boy had seemed so taken with Pax’Dulah, Nugar had been concerned that Dungias might have faltered in finding his own path. But the Traveler now knew that his very presence on the scout craft was evidence enough that Dungias would chart his own stars. “The subject of what you are… or at the very least, one of the things you might find yourself becoming.”
Dungias nodded as he breathed in deeply, as if he was bracing himself for the weight. “You speak of becoming a Malgovi Traveler?”
“You say that as if you know it is a rare thing!” Nugar asserted. “I’d like to know how you come by this knowledge.
“And before I forget,” Nugar added, reaching to the rear of his belt. He produced the weapons belt Guyn had made for Dungias. “I hope you don’t mind, but I made a few changes to the design. And I added a place for you to put your gloves.”
“Gloves?”
“A seldom mentioned matter amongst us,” Nugar replied. “… but I’ve yet to see a Traveler of any worth without a very good pair. Now, about this education you have received outside any classroom I have provided for you.”
Dungias took the weapons belt, exchanging it for his Osamu. Nugar received the device and looked at it in awe and respect. Dungias noticed the look in his teacher’s eyes only after he noticed the symbol that had been carved into the buckle of the belt. It was an asymmetrical three-pointed star, the mark of the Travelers. He ran his finger over the symbol and decided not to argue the perspective of his mentor. He took the Osamu back and leveled in front of his face.
“Demonstrations are much simpler than explanations.” Dungias said as he twirled the weapon. His hand found the middle of it and his thumb pressed hard against the side and for a very brief moment, Nugar could see a button under his thumb. “Playback in holographic display,” Dungias commanded, twirling the rod before touching the end to the floor. When he removed his hand, the Osamu did not fall, but instead projected a holographic image… one of Nugar’s point of view as he received Dungias’ Osamu.
“Now why has he given me this?” Nugar’s voice echoed and the Vinthur backed away, hearing his thoughts played back to him. “The feel of it!” he had thought. “It’s almost as if it accepts me somehow.”
“Alpha does accept you,” Dungias confirmed as Alpha flew from the floor to the hand of its creator. “It was one of the drives in coming to find you, Master.
“During my stay at The Campus, I was given a stone by one of the Beta Forms,” Dungias explained. “It had been used to house the memories, thoughts, feelings and experiences of the Mal-Vin who had attacked The Campus.”
“Mal-Vin?!” Nugar whispered.
“Physical contact is not necessary, but there is less of a chance that the recording will be felt. This mode of playback only gives you sight and sound,” Dungias continued his explanation. “For me, I can relive the moment as if I am inside their minds and bodies, essentially becoming them. I can remember the teachings of the soldiers that attacked The Campus as if I had been in the class myself. I believe the range of thought is limited to what the subjects are thinking and feeling at the moment of the recording. With the Shadow Corpsmen, the feed is more intense because their essences were actually stored in the gem. So through their accumulated experiences, I can say that when the Star-Stride was first given to us, it was more defined.”
“And we were able to move as we did when we were running together,” Nugar said, looking at the floor. The wisdom of the Stars was becoming less and less questionable even at its most incomprehensible.
“Yes, Master,” Dungias replied. “But that is not all of what I have been able to witness. With the proper stimulus, I can get my target to think of certain things and I can read them later. I was able to interrogate your domicile guest in the same fashion. I convinced him that I was left with only torture as a means to derive your location and the reason why he and his team had been sent to Gavis Station.”
“I can imagine that you were very convincing,” Nugar remarked. “What did you learn?”
“I learned of a movement called the Schatten-Kraythe.”
/> “The Shadow’s Blade?!” Nugar said, looking away in thought and confusion. “Someone is very nostalgic. There is a reason why the Mal-Vin received so many shay-spawn. We were still fighting the BroSohnti, or what was left of them. The Founders had long since made their departure from our system… or at least, that is how the tales are told.
“It was a much different time,” Nugar continued. “The Founders had at least taught us how to unite and defend ourselves. We knew the BroSohnti were growing more and more desperate, sending ships that were barely worthy of the objective of transit. Still, they had the advantage of sheer numbers on their side and therefore they were still a considerable threat.
“Everyone wanted to do their part and there they were: Malgovi who could not grasp the concepts of iro-form manipulations and Vinthur who had no taste for trans-dimensional power. Of course then, such things were called Enervationism and Spell Casting… the practitioners were called EnervationisTs and WizarDs… they wielded the various versions of EnerJa, the name for base power found in all iro-forms, and MannA, which, as you know is the basis for all MajiK.”
“E-ner-jha,” Dungias said slowly, preferring that term to ‘iro-form’.
“Very good,” Nugar graded before resuming his tale. “As I said, they were without the power, but they were Malgovi and Vinthur, and they longed to serve. As it turned out, the BroSohnti were quick to adapt to EnerJa and MannA, creating systems that detected the power from incredible distances. They started evading our best soldiers. We needed a means to get around their detection systems.”
“The Shadow’s Blade,” Dungias concluded.
“Indeed! And to help the Blades find their targets, we needed those who could track spacecraft and chart the lesser known regions and sectors of the Void.”
