“Dax?” Senator Rovin asked.
“Not this again,” the berserker groaned as he rolled his eyes.
“You said they wouldn’t be here for at least six hours,” I said to him. “And we cleared that portal in one hour.”
“My calculations must have been wrong,” Olav said with a shrug. “I’ve never been much good at math. The portal is here, but it might be a little while before their ships actually come through. Let’s move to the other Ark.” The berserker started walking away from the piles of Grendel corpses.
An enforcer was scanning the trident I had intended on taking. Before he could glance up at me, I snatched the weapon away from him. His right hand dropped to his sidearm, but I fixed him with a deadly stare.
“Try it,” I said. “This weapon is mine. If you don’t like me grabbing it, take it up with your senator.”
The enforcer dropped his hand while I raced after Olav to board our stolen skiff.
Chapter 19
The Dax skiff’s thrusters took twenty minutes to reach the Gor Ark. When we arrived outside the behemoth, I noticed it was identical in every way to the others. I could still see the Bix Ark on the rear view screen, and I wondered how much the delay clearing the portal had cost us.
Hopefully, the knights and squires had cleared the Grendel rift and were made aware of the LR portal opening outside Ecoma’s atmosphere. I imagined they would be preparing now to leave on the Stalwart and attempt to close the portal before the Dax could arrive.
A bell chimed in the overhead, and I prepared for another of Olav’s customary berserker negotiations.
“Open up!” Olav shouted. “We’re seeking the Stalwart.”
“Yet you are in a Dax vessel,” an Ecomese woman’s voice sounded through the ship’s speakers. I was thankful for her unbroken Caledonian since it meant Olav wouldn’t need to engage in another screaming match, but she still misunderstood our identities.
“Of course we are in a Dax Vessel, you idiots! How else would we get here?”
“Is the Stalwart here?” I asked before the woman could answer, and I realized that if this person thought we were Dax, then they probably wouldn’t answer. “If they are here, tell them Space Knight Olav Kjeldsen and Squire Nicholas Lyons are here.”
“Standby,” the woman answered.
After a good five minutes, a familiar voice sounded. “Space Knight Moses Monroe,” he said.
“Moses!” Olav responded. “Let us in. We have news.”
“So do we,” Moses responded. “The lady says you can enter through the seventeenth eye. See you soon.”
Olav maneuvered the vessel into the allocated port, and we passed through the airlock tunnel before landing beside a gangway. Once we were down, I unbuckled myself from the seat and followed the berserker outside. We were greeted by unarmed Ecomese and led through the organic passageways to a high-ceilinged chamber.
I spotted the Stalwart’s crew gathered around a circular table at the far end of the room. The squires waved as we approached, and I took a seat beside Neville while Olav sat on my left. The knights and squires were covered in Grendel blood, and they were all sporting new equipment on their magnetons. I guessed they’d gathered a lot of loot from the Grendel portal on this Ark.
Commander Reynolds and Prime Minister Treyin watched Captain Cross while he was engaged in a conversation with a plump man. If it weren’t for the sheer robes and blue-tinged skin, I wouldn’t have guessed he was Ecomese since he was the only non-slender empath I’d seen thus far. He could speak fluent Caledonian, unlike the nobles inside the Ark we’d just been on.
The captain stopped mid-sentence and turned to Olav and I. “You both disobeyed orders.”
“It’s alright. We’re mates now,” Olav said as he slapped me on the back.
“So, you know about the presence of an LR portal outside the planet’s atmosphere?” Captain Cross asked.
“Yes, sir,” Olav said. “And we also know what it’s doing here. The Star Spear, Sir Uram, contacted his base. Oh, and he also controls the Den Ark now.”
“What?” Prime Minister Treyin yelled as she jumped to her feet. “We must regain control of it immediately. I will not have that Dax cretin manhandling my Ark!”
The captain raised a placating hand to the woman. “Easy, Treyin. First things first. We need to speak with the Dax. Perhaps they will listen to reason.”
“The Dax never listen to reason!” the plump Ecomese man said.
“Senator Goy,” Captain Cross said. “Speaking with the Dax might be the only way for your people to remain free.”
“I have one hundred blood-ships!” he screamed. “They will destroy any Dax who dare attack us.”
“Your ships are terrible,” Flanagan commented. “There’s no way they’ll do anything except provide the Dax with target practice.”
Senator Goy clenched his meaty hands into fists. “Grrrr . . . How do I know you Caledonians are not in league with the Dax? I trust you no more than Prime Minister Treyin, and I trust her less than the Dax.”
“Read my emotions,” Captain Cross said as he fixed the man with a level stare. “You will know I mean only to protect this planet and its people from harm.”
Senator Goy stared into the captain’s eyes, and then he exhaled like a balloon letting out all its air. “Even so, I cannot read all of your emotions,” he said as his eyes settled on Prime Minister Treyin.
“Why would I answer your plea for help if I was in league with the Dax?” she challenged.
Senator Goy launched into a tirade about his past dealings with the Den Ark, and Treyin offered counter-objections for every point. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, the conversation devolved into the Ecomese language, and I turned to Neville and the other squires.
“This isn’t going to fix the problem,” I whispered. “We should leave these politicians to bicker, take the Stalwart, and prepare for the incoming Dax fleet.”
“That would be ideal,” Olav said. “I am going to enjoy taking those ships down. With you by my side, Squire Lyons, no one can stop us!” He gave me a massive grin, and the squires looked at me with confused expressions.
“What the heck did you guys do when we left you at the Den Ark?” Nathan asked.
“Well, we cleared a Grendel portal on the Bix Ark before we came here. That’s where I got these.” I showed the squires my trident and crossbow, and they marveled at them for a bit before they displayed their own acquirements.
I heard the doors open on the other side of the chamber, and an Ecomese enforcer sprinted into the room. He spoke with Senator Goy, and the overweight man’s jowls quivered while he responded. Then the enforcer left, and the senator addressed the table.
“The Den Ark has moved through the gas storms,” he said. “They are now at our gates with a fleet of blood-ships.”
“That Dax oaf is using my ships!” Prime Minister Treyin said.
“Sir Uram means to stop us from reaching the LR portal,” Commander Reynolds said. “The Dax starships mustn’t have arrived yet. We need to deal with them and then get outside Ecoma’s atmosphere. Matthias might be able to close the portal before the starships can pass through it.”
“A praiseworthy plan,” Captain Cross said.
“You are not destroying my ships,” Treyin said.
“Don’t try to use your powers on me,” the captain growled at the woman. “I will not be tampered with.”
The prime minister folded her arms and sunk into her chair. She seemed like a petulant child, an impression I’d never gotten from the woman before. Her attitude seemed strange, and a crazy thought popped into my head.
What if she was somehow responsible for Sir Uram breaking out of the prison residence? After all, the other Arks hated the Dax, yet she had left them to roam freely through her Ark.
Except I couldn’t think of a reasonable motive for her assisting the Star Spear and bringing the Dax fleet to Ecoma, so I dismissed the question.
As I stared at
the Den Ark on the screen, a horrible thought came to my mind. “Captain Cross, sir,” I said. “The enchanters are still on the Den Ark.”
The captain turned to me and nodded. “I am aware of that problem, Squire Lyons. Which is why I am considering an alternative option.” He stared at me for a few seconds, and I could tell he didn’t want to let the Ecomese present know about my teleportation ability. “I will consider any suggestions that do not involve putting my enchanters in danger.”
“I will have no defenses should my blood-ships be destroyed,” Treyin said. “Let me speak with the Star Spear. I will see whether we can come to some agreement.”
“Like signing over my people for slavery?” Senator Goy said.
“Please, Senator,” the captain said. “Allow her to make contact.” I could tell the captain didn’t actually think Treyin would convince Sir Uram to stand aside while we stopped the Dax fleet from coming, but he must have had his reasons for allowing Treyin to make the call.
“Fine,” Senator Goyin said as he motioned for an enforcer to approach him. They spoke together for a few seconds, and the enforcer activated the monitor on the rear wall.
Sir Uram appeared, and he gave the room a broad smile. “Salutations! I didn’t realize I would be greeting so many esteemed folks. I am a little unprepared.” He made a mock attempt at loosening his collar before grinning. “I know you are the ones who requested this call, but I first wish to offer a deal. If the Stalwart and her crew leave Ecoma, we will spare their lives. We have no bad blood between the Caledonians, and we only wish to reclaim what was ours to begin with. These Arks,” he said as he raised his hands and looked to either side, “are the possession of the Dax Kingdom. As are the mutated people who populate them.”
Senator Goy motioned to the enforcer to mute the call, and the section of the monitor showing us all around the circular table grayed out.
“Do you see? We will all be enslaved!”
“You no longer wish to use your blood-ships in defense of your Ark?” Commander Reynolds asked the man.
“What is the purpose? You will all take the Star Spear’s offer and leave us, and I will lose my entire fleet to the Den Ark’s vessels before the Dax starships arrive.”
“We’re not leaving,” Captain Cross said.
“Please, Atticus,” Prime Minister Treyin said. “Let me speak with the Star Spear again.”
“You heard his offer. What more do you need?”
Treyin fluttered her eyes, and the captain yielded with a wave of his hand. “Try your best,” he said.
Senator Goyin nodded at his enforcer, and the monitor activated again.
“Sir Uram,” Treyin said. “Is it possible that you would be willing to negotiate an agreement more amiable to the Ecomese?”
“What do you have in mind?” he asked.
“Perhaps we can offer the Dax an Ark. More precisely, we can offer the Bix Ark.” Her words ended in a lilt, and I felt like this was a rehearsed conversation. Again, I wondered whether Prime Minister Treyin had orchestrated this whole situation. It was an outlandish notion, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. She suddenly turned to me, and I guessed she’d detected my emotions.
Sir Uram followed Treyin’s gaze from the screen, and then he was looking at me, too.
“Ah, Squire Lyons. You seemed to have escaped your prison.” Sir Uram stared into the camera.
“The Bix Ark don’t have a representative here who can speak on their behalf, so we aren’t going to promise their ark,” Captain Cross interrupted, and he nodded at the enforcer to cut the call.
I was glad the captain wasn’t willing to concede to the terms, since Olav and I had just finished defeating Grendels on the Bix Ark. Although I probably wouldn’t have done so unless they deceived me, I didn’t hold that against them and wouldn’t want them to become slaves to the Dax.
“Sir Uram didn’t mention my enchanters, so I assume he doesn’t know they’re on the Ark,” Captain Cross said. “He is probably too preoccupied with an invasion to consider who among the Stalwart he might harbor inside the behemoth.”
“So, what are we gonna do, Captain?” Leith asked. “I still haven’t got myself any Dax scalps on this mission, and I’m pretty sure I was promised at least a half dozen.”
“You were the only one to mention scalps,” Flanagan said.
“We will carve a path through the hostile blood-ships, but there is to be no damage done to the Den Ark while the enchanters are still aboard,” the captain said.
“The Stalwart will have difficulty against so many vessels.” Commander Reynolds winced a little as though the admission of weakness pained her. “Those blood-ships Sir Uram commands are small, but a colony of ants can strip the flesh from a human body.”
“Sounds like we need some help.” The captain turned his head to stare at the Gor Ark’s senator.
“I will allow you to command my blood-ships in defense of my people,” Senator Goyin said. “As long as you can promise we will not be placed under the thumb of the Dax again.”
“That’s a promise,” Captain Cross said.
“Thank you, Senator,” Commander Reynolds said before turning to the crew. “We will return to the Stalwart immediately and man our battlestations. Once the enemy blood-ships are dealt with, we will move through the atmosphere and attempt to close the portal before the Dax fleet arrives.”
“Yes, Commander,” we chorused before standing from the table and making for the Stalwart.
Captain Cross and Commander Reynolds led the squires and knights to a docking station at one of the Ark’s many eyes. We boarded the Stalwart via the cargo ramp and Matthias was waiting for us at the elevator. The machina spoke briefly with the captain before the command team entered the elevator.
Prime Minister Treyin talked with Matthias, and I couldn’t catch what they were saying, but the conversation seemed heated. When they were finished, Matthias stormed off in the direction of the ladder while the prime minister lagged behind with the rest of the crew.
The elevator opened, and Treyin beckoned me with a nod. The rest of my friends poured into the lift, but I stepped away from them so I could speak with her.
“Nicholas,” she said, and her voice dripped with a strange allure. I knew she was attempting to manipulate my desires, and I tried to shake off her bewitchery.
“Yes, Prime Minister?”
“I have heard about your particular . . . skills.” She raised an eyebrow as she said the final word. “I wish for you to teleport me inside the Den Ark. I believe I can convince Sir Uram not to attack, but I must speak with him in person.”
Now I knew what she had spoken with Matthias about. She’d tried to manipulate the machina to take her there, but he’d been immune to her abilities. Now she wanted the same from me.
“If you do not grant me this request,” Treyin whispered to me, “then I will use any means necessary to wrestle control of your mind from you.”
“I would need to confirm with the captain first,” I said. “And he’s busy organizing a defense against your blood-ships.”
“Blood-ships controlled by Sir Uram!” Treyin hissed, and the rest of the crew turned to look at her. She smoothed down her robes with both hands and then glared at me a final time before lifting her head to pretend I wasn’t there.
“Are you two coming?” Flanagan called out, and we both turned to the elevator.
“Yeah, sorry.” I stepped inside with the rest of the crew, and Treyin followed me. When we exited for Deck 3, the prime minister remained inside the elevator. I peered at Treyin as the doors closed, and she scowled at me.
I was sure she was hiding something, but I didn’t have time to think about it any longer because Moses addressed the knights and squires outside the gunneries.
“Flanagan, you take the artillerymen and man the shield stations and gunner terminals in the primary gunnery,” he said before grabbing Zac. “You’ll be manning the rune-cannon while Casey isn’t here.”
“Nice!” Zac said with a fist-pump as he made for the elevator.
“Olav and the squires, you’re coming with me to the secondary gunnery,” the shield knight ordered.
I entered the second chamber, and the squires took their places at the gunner terminals. Olav grabbed me before I could sit next to Richard.
“You’re with me on the shield stations,” he said. “We lost crew during the last ship fight, and we’re one man down.”
I hadn’t used shield stations besides Academy sims, but I didn’t have a chance to explain my inexperience to the berserker before he grabbed me and hurled me in front of a computer terminal. On either side of me were large cylinders, and I placed my arms inside them.
“You’re responsible for protecting the starboard hull,” Olav said. “Whenever the defense systems register any incoming enemy fire, you need to catch them before they strike the ship.”
“Yes, sir!” I said as the computer system registered a new user. With my hands in both the arm holds, I could control the prot-fields surrounding the hull. The defense systems would show the predicted location of an enemy attack, and then I would have to use my arms to control the shields and catch the projectile before it hit the hull.
As we prepared for the battle to begin, my heart raced and my mind filled with a dozen different things. I knew I should contact Captain Cross and tell him my hunches about Prime Minister Treyin, so I slipped my hands out of the machine and opened my prot-belt menu. I put a comms line through to the captain, and his microphone triggered.
“Busy, Squire Lyons,” Captain Cross said. “Can it wait?”
“It’s about—”
“No time,” he said. “The Den Ark’s blood-ships are coming for us!”
I inserted my arms back into the holsters and then stared at the monitor in front of me. The view from the starboard side showed crimson specks among the purple gas clouds, and I knew them to be the blood-ships.
The crimson vessels quickly grew larger as they maneuvered around the roiling clouds and spurred toward the Stalwart. Other blood-ships pincered from the sides of my monitor to meet the Den Ark’s fleet, and they came together in a flurry of chaotic energy fire.
Space Knight Book 2 Page 31
