Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
End Notes
Samuel E. Green &
Michael-Scott Earle
Chapter 1
I hurried to the RTF Stalwart’s galley for our next mission briefing, but I stopped when I saw Olav and Leith coming from the other end of the starship’s passageway. The berserker locked eyes with me and ran a finger across his throat. Then the slayer drummed on the runic dagger at his waist before both knights entered the galley.
“Ready?” Neville asked, and I whirled around to see him standing with the twins, Richard and Nathan.
“Yeah,” I said with a forced smile. Those two knights were waiting for the right moment to pay me back for my treachery, so these three squires were welcome company. I doubted Olav and Leith would try anything while I was with friends.
We entered the galley to join the rest of the crew. Artillerymen, yeomen, enchanters, and knights were all seated at rectangular tables laden with beer, and they waited for Captain Cross to begin the mission briefing.
I took a seat beside Moses, and he pushed a stein filled with a dark ale toward me.
“Good to see the naysayers haven’t scared you off.” The shield knight smiled as he tied his thick dreadlocks into a ponytail.
I glanced across the room at Olav and Leith and breathed a little easier when they weren’t looking at me. Although the knights were wearing black velvet fatigues with thin blue lines running down the seams, they still cast imposing figures. Where Olav bulged with muscle like a strongman, Leith’s slender frame indicated a man who slipped in and out of combat like a jewel thief. Or a man who could strike a deadly blow without you ever noticing it coming.
The pair still wanted me thrown off the ship, and they’d made as much known to me in the last twenty-four hours. Leith had been waiting outside the squire quarters when I awoke, and he gave me a devilish grin promising some kind of evil. When I returned to my quarters after lifting weights, a note was lying on my pillow with the words, “Payback is coming.”
Now, the other squires sat across from me inside the galley. They were all grinning like fools as they grabbed mugs of ale from a female yeoman. After the success of our battle the day before, mugs of beer were permanently glued to the hands of Richard and Nathan. Neville had even joined in the celebrations, and I got the feeling he wasn’t the same man I’d met when I’d first been assigned to the so-called worst ship in the Caledonian Kingdom’s fleet.
The chatter died down as everyone faced Captain Cross and Commander Reynolds in the center of the room. The captain waved his hand, and a holo materialized from the map table, showing a gas giant orbiting a red dwarf. The giant was comprised of bluish hues, and slight shifts in color represented electrical storms.
“Ecoma,” the captain said. “It’s home to three sovereign states sharing a tenuous alliance. The prime minister of the Den Ark has agreed to provide the crew with lodgings while we get a little R&R.”
After the mess of our last mission on Tachion, I was glad for something a little easier. When the captain mentioned Ecoma as our destination yesterday, Commander Reynolds had seemed taken aback. I’d done a little digging but only found a few short lines of description in the Caledonian database. It was an inconsequential planet in a far-off star system with little to offer a kingdom, and there was no registered Grendel activity.
“I want you all to get some much-needed rest,” Captain Cross said. “But you’ll need to be cautious around the natives. The humans on Ecoma have a particular gift for reading minds.”
“Like diviners, sir?” Moses asked.
“Not exactly,” the captain answered. “Heightened emotion gives a diviner a gateway into your mind, but the Ecomese can’t actually see what you’re thinking. They read emotions, and from that, they can gather a fair approximation of our thoughts. We call them empaths.”
The Academy never taught us much about diviners, and I figured the omission was intentional because the mind-readers were the unseen enforcers of the Caledonian law. No one wanted to break a law if a warrant was all it took for their darkest secrets to come to light.
My limited experience with diviners confirmed the commander’s words. Three times a mind-reading mutant had used their powers on me, and on every occasion I was in a highly emotional state.
“I never liked diviners much,” Olav grunted. “Can’t say I’m going to be too fond of these empaths neither.”
“Olav, the captain said R&R. Eat, drink, and be merry!” Flanagan raised his beer and smiled.
“I’m always eating, drinking, and merrying,” the berserker said as he chomped on a hunk of meat. “I just don’t like people prying into my mind.”
“You worry needlessly, friend,” the herald said. “The only things the empaths will learn from reading your emotions is how much you love your axes and killing.”
“They don’t need to read my mind to learn that,” Olav responded. “I tell everyone I meet how much I love my axes.”
“What about the killing?”
“I save that for the second time we meet,” Olav said with a sage-like nod. “I want to leave a little mystery. So I don’t tell them everything all at once.”
Captain Cross folded his massive arms over his blue coat. “You two done?”
The knights nodded in unison. “Yes, Captain.”
“Good. Commander Reynolds, why don’t you explain the mission objectives to the crew?”
The short-haired woman stepped forward with her hands folded behind her back. “While on Ecoma, we will try to gain access to their technology. One device in particular, which makes a person’s thoughts invisible to diviners. The captain and I believe some of our objectives became known to our enemies, which is why those pirates attacked us after we left Bratton.”
After graduating as a squire on the floating fortress known as Bratton, Duke Barnes assigned me to the Stalwart. I had barely boarded the starship and travelled through a long-range portal before a fleet of arrow-ships swarmed us. I’d thought the pirates had assaulted our starship simply for our Dust stores, but if they knew about the king’s armor, then our mission to retrieve all the pieces was severely compromised.
“Preventing future information leaks require these implants,” Commander Reynolds continued. “We want to avoid doing anything to antagonize the natives while we’re there, so they will feel more comfortable handing them over.”
“We’ll be good as long as this prime minister doesn’t have a beautiful daughter or wife,” Leith said, and the rest of the knights turned to Flanagan.
“Hey, that was only one time!” Flanagan raised his hands in defense.
“Aye,” Moses said. “But we caught you behind the press galley with both the daughter and the wife.” The shield knight pushed out his lower lip in thought. “Maybe Leith is right. Perhaps we should leave Flanagan on the ship?”
“Gentlemen, and lady,” Flanagan said as he nodded to Commander Reynolds. “I assure you I can keep my desires to myself, even when challenged by the most alluring women. You can trust me this time.”
“This time?” Commander Reynolds asked, and I could have sworn her mouth curled up a
tiny bit. It almost looked like a smile.
“So I swear,” Flanagan said as he struck his chest. “On the queen.”
The rest of the crew seemed content with the promise, and I wondered how anyone could have thought these men insurrectionists. I’d never seen people take an oath to the throne so seriously.
“You won’t have to worry about wives or daughters anyway, Leith,” Captain Cross said. “The Prime Minister is an old friend of ours. Treyin.”
The crew mumbled among themselves, and I couldn’t hear anything except a few muttered snippets. The prime minister must have had a complicated history with the crew because the reactions to the news were mixed.
The captain cleared his throat to silence the whispering. “While on Ecoma, you’re to keep your knowledge of the implants to yourself. Only the upper crust have access to them. Their religion states that holy citizens can hide their emotions completely. Most people do not even know of the existence of emotion-hiding technology. Revealing our knowledge of the implants would cause quite a stir if the wrong person found out. Understood?” The crew nodded. “Any questions?”
“What about the fallout from destroying the sorcerer’s Cachalot?” Leith asked. “We expecting some friendlies to come after us?”
“Polgar’s fleet will have learned of the Bulwark’s demise, but they’ll have no evidence to prove we did it,” Commander Reynolds said. “Even if the kingdom should learn of our involvement, who would believe we defeated a Cachalot? The Stalwart is regarded as the worst ship in the fleet, and we were on a humanitarian mission. It doesn’t make sense for Polgar to be in that system, or for him to engage us, or for him to lose and die. That is a lot of logical leaps for anyone to make.”
Captain Cross nodded. “We won’t know for sure what is going on in the Caledonian Kingdom until we return, but I feel confident that we will not be blamed for the destruction of the RTF Bulwark. In the meantime, we’ll be lying low while on Ecoma. Take the opportunity to relax while you have the chance, crew. For those of you with personal vendettas, it will be an opportunity to iron them out.” He fixed his eyes on Olav and Leith, and I shuddered as they glared at me.
“You have twenty-eight days before we’ll travel to a neighboring planet with minor portal activity,” the captain continued. “We’ll be testing Squire Lyons’ abilities there. In the meantime, get some rest. One last thing.” He waved his hand in front of the projection. The holo of Ecoma vanished, replaced by a spinning terrestrial planet. “This is the Dax homeworld, Vokan.”
All four knights grumbled in unison.
“Fucking Dax,” Olav muttered. “What do they have to do with Ecoma?”
“I could use a few more Dax scalps,” Leith said. “When can we start killing them?”
“We won’t be fighting the Dax, Leith,” Commander Reynolds scolded in a schoolmaster’s tone. “The Dax’s history with the Ecomese is tense, and they’ll likely wonder why we’re there. They have emissaries on Ecoma. Technically, the Triumvirate Kingdoms have no alliance with the Dax, so let’s avoid any of them we see. No meddling in their affairs. We don’t want a repeat of Tachion.”
The commander’s gaze turned on me, and her frown indicated that she blamed me for the troubles on our last mission. I was still feeling guilty about all the innocents who’d been killed at the hands of the Rutheni and the Aquitanians. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I could have saved more lives had I been a better fighter.
“Be ready for deployment in 72 hours,” Captain Cross said. “The Stalwart will remain within the Den Ark’s docks. I want the knights and squires to mingle with the natives, have a little fun, but don’t get into trouble. Everyone else will stay inside the ship and focus on preparing for our next mission.”
Before the captain dismissed the crew, everyone raised their beer steins.
“For the queen!” Cross said.
“For the queen!” the crew echoed before draining their mugs.
I swallowed the dregs from the bottom of my glass. By the time the fizzy beer was no longer stinging my eyes, Moses had left the table and was talking with Flanagan.
“This mission sounds like fun,” Richard said from in front of me. “I could use a little rest and recreation.”
“I think we all could,” I said as I glanced around the room. I couldn’t find Casey among the crew members, and I guessed she was still recovering in the enchantry.
Before I could stand completely, a strong hand clamped my shoulder and shoved me back onto the stool.
“Hello, Squire,” Olav said with a grin as he sat beside me.
Leith came along the other side and took a seat. My stomach dropped, and I wished I’d decided to leave a few seconds earlier. Both knights smelled of ale, and I could see from their glazed eyeballs that they had been drinking for some time. I could understand their desire to drink themselves silly since we’d all come a millimeter from dying yesterday, but I was worried what intoxication might do to their self-control.
“Olav, sir. Leith, sir.” I nodded to both knights.
Nathan gave me a nervous glance but didn’t say anything. The two other squires seemed equally anxious about the knights at our table.
“You’re probably wondering what we’re doing here,” Leith said. “You probably reckon we think you’re a traitor.”
I tilted my head in confusion. “You don’t think I’m a traitor?”
“Of course we do,” Olav said. “You sold us out to the sorcerer.”
“I made a mistake. I already apologized.” I cleared my throat before I spoke, but my voice cracked a little. These knights obviously shared a vendetta against me, and it seemed saving our starship wasn’t enough for them to forgive me.
“Unfortunately, the captain ordered us not to throw you out of the airlock,” the berserker continued after taking a sip of the beer in front of Nathan.
Leith shook his head in disappointment. “A pity, isn’t it, Olav?”
“Sure is. The captain knows how much I love discarding traitors into the black. There’s something about the way their eyeballs freeze like little ice cubes.”
Leith looked up at the overhead with a smile. “Ah, that truly is something.” He sighed and then returned his focus to me. “Olav and I were talking earlier, and we figured we need to get to know the new squire a bit better. So, we came up with this brilliant idea.” The slayer’s eyes glistened like sapphires, and his hands hugged his stein glass.
“What do you have in mind, sirs?” I asked with trepidation. I didn’t have the slightest clue what these two knights had planned, but they were grinning like two cats who’d cornered a mouse, so I figured it wasn’t good.
The other squires stared at Olav and Leith, and they seemed as confused as me by the knights’ somewhat amiable demeanors.
The slayer sipped from his mug, and the beer’s foam left a frothy mustache over his real one. “How about a little scuffle in the battle room?”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of that, Nick,” Nathan whispered to me. “I think they’re planning on kicking your ass.”
Both of the knights were more skilled than me, but I figured my chances were best against Leith. It was a complete guess, but I’d witnessed Olav fight a few more times than the slayer, and I knew for certain I wouldn’t win a fight against the berserker.
I didn’t want to show any sign of fear, so I swallowed my tongue and nodded. “I’ll fight you, Leith.”
Olav shook his head with feigned pity. “You’ll need to win against us both.”
“One after the other?” I knew the answer to my question before I’d even asked it.
“At the same time,” Leith said as he drained the last of Nathan’s mug. “I’m sure that’ll be an easy task for a Hero of Tyranus.”
“Or did you get your cadet cohort killed?” Olav snarled. “Rat them out to the Grendels, eh?”
Leith shot a warning glance to Olav as though he thought the berserker’s accusation went too far. I couldn’t exactly tell because my
vision washed red. My jaw muscles tightened, and I clenched the edges of the table until the metal protested beneath my fingertips.
“I am not a traitor, sir,” I said with an effort.
Olav grunted. “Save your anger for the battle room, Squire.”
“We’ll fight with him,” Neville cut in from across the table.
“You are knights, so you’re honorable,” Nathan said. “It’s not fair to fight a squire two-on-one.”
I cringed a little when he questioned the knights’ honor. It was a good way to get them to fight fair, but it wouldn’t earn him any respect.
“Good point, Squire,” Olav agreed, and I saw Nathan’s eyes widen with surprise. I was equally startled by the berserker’s reaction, but my stomach soon clenched with dread.
Whatever he was planning couldn’t be good.
Nathan tilted his head in confusion. “Uhh… sir?”
“You made a good point,” Leith said with an evil grin. “We’ll fight the lot of you. Two knights against four squires. Those sound like fair odds to you?” The way the slayer asked the question made it apparent what he expected Nathan’s answer to be.
“Yes, sir,” Nathan agreed after a long pause.
“Good!” Olav said as he pushed off the table to stand. “Meet us in the battle room at 18:00.”
“We’ll have no trouble crushing you,” Richard chided, and Olav shot him a death stare. “Sir,” the squire added after a swallow.
After Leith and Olav left the galley, the squires let out all the air in their lungs.
“We don’t stand a chance,” Neville said. His hair had grown to a dark shadow, and I noticed for the first time that it was the color of steel. I couldn’t think of anyone in the kingdom with hair like that, so I wondered if he wasn’t a Core World noble, but belonged to one of the kingdom’s aristocratic constituents.
Richard grabbed a nearby mug, rubbed the outer rim on his squire tunic, and took a long swallow. “I’d say we have a chance. Numbers matter you know. Four is almost three times two.”
“Two times two,” Nathan corrected. He stared at his brother through narrow eyes as Richard drained another mug of beer.
Space Knight Book 2 Page 1
