“What was that about not taking Benny?” she asked.
“I need to get to the Shadow Archive.”
“The what?”
“Explain later. But, Benny can’t be the ship we arrive one.”
“Then, how are we going to get there?” Kyp asked.
Pieter looked out the viewport to the dreadnought still parked. “We could take that ship.”
“Are you mad? Taking a dreadnought of the Imperial Æther Navy? It’s tantamount to suicide,” Sarena said.
“I didn’t say it was a good idea. And besides, they have smaller cutters and the like on their ship.”
“No,” Sarena said. “You will be putting Benny in jeopardy.”
“Aren’t you putting him in jeopardy by not answering the Duke now?” Toth asked.
Sarena cut Toth a hard look. “Not the same thing.”
Toth gave her a Lasha version of a shrug and went back to grooming himself.
Sarena looked at Pieter. “Do you have anything resembling a plan?”
“Not in the least.”
“What about the masked duke? How are we going to take his boat without him knowing?” Kyp asked.
“Maybe we let him know,” Pieter said.
“Now I know you are crazy,” Sarena said, putting her hands on her hips. She moved closer to him.
“All we need to do is get over there, escape his brig, and then we can escape on a ship. It won’t be that hard,” Pieter said with a grin.
Sarena shook her head several times. “You are the most idiotic man I have ever met.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Pieter said with a smirk.
Sarena balled up her fist and punched him right in the face. “I think if you looked roughed up it will sell it more,” she said when Pieter looked up at her, stunned that she had struck him.
“Yes, I suppose,” Pieter said, pushing himself up. At that moment Toth leaped onto him, starting to scratch and kick him, his central legs holding on while his back claws kicked and raked and his forepaws slashed at Pieter’s neck and face. Pieter grabbed the hissing and berserk Lasha and hurled him across the control room. Toth landed and started to groom himself again. He looked at Pieter with a smug look.
“Why?” Pieter asked.
I need a reason? Toth asked in Pieter’s head. “I was only following her lead, Emissary.” Toth said out loud.
“Of course,” Pieter said, feeling the blood welling up from a dozens of tiny wounds to his body. He glared at the Lasha. I hate you.
I know, Toth said in Pieter’s head before Pieter shoved the Lasha’s thoughts from his own. He gripped his hands and took a deep breath. “Do not get angry, do not get angry.”
“Why? What would happen—”
Sarena cut herself off before she finished the statement. She looked at Pieter, then turned away before she said anything else. “I suggest you and Kyp get ready. I don't want you to be around when I call Harkness.’
Pieter noticed that Toth snapped his head up, looking at Sarena. The Lasha then started to moved towards her. Pieter turned and went of the doorway, where Kyp waited. Pieter looked back to see Toth was rubbing at Sarena’s hand. She was also sitting in the one chair of the room, looking dejected. She then pushed herself up and let out a sniff.
Pieter turned away and walked away. He noticed something that Sarena didn't think he noticed. As she pushed herself up and gave him one last look, Pieter saw tears in Sarena’s eyes.
Blasted women, what is she weeping for? Thought she wanted me off her ship?
Pieter looked at Kyp through the faceplate of the æthersuit. “Ready?”
“Not at all,” Kyp said. “Is there any other way? The æther isn’t something that you want to be in.”
“Calm yourself. Find your center.” He watched as Kyp steadied himself. Pieter then palmed the door mechanism to vent the room. Nothing happened.
“Sarena, let us out.”
“There has to be another way Pieter. Don’t be so stubborn,” Sarena responded, her voice echoing through the ship.
“Damn it woman, I know what I have to do. Let us out. We aren’t your responsibility anymore.”
“Pieter, I—”
“What?” Pieter shouted. He didn’t to but he felt that she was trying to get herself killed as well. “You can’t do this. Open the doors.”
The doors popped open, yet she heard Sarena scream out, “No.”
Pieter gripped Kyp’s hand and leapt into the æther. He saw the massive dreadnought waiting for the two of them. The two floated toward the massive silver-colored ship. Then They saw a small cutter moving closer and closer to the two of them. Pieter felt Kyp’s hand grip his harder. Pieter embraced the Void and touched Kyp’s mind. Be at peace. Run through the exercises.
I don’t know if I can, Sempai.
You can. I know you can. He then released the Void as the cutter hove to, a side door opening. Pieter felt something wrong when he reached out to try and grab at the ropes that shot out past them. He didn’t get a look inside or even see the pilot of the cutter until they were being drawn inside by a large winch. He swallowed hard. He felt Kyp’s hand tighten up.
Inside were five of the bugmen that he and Kyp had faced, all of them wearing a suit of the Imperium Navy. Once they were inside and the door was closed, one if the five came closer and motioned for the helmet to be taken off. Pieter didn’t want to trust the thing, yet he couldn’t really do much except try and escape into the æther with a suit that would be depleted of air in ten minutes. He cracked the seal and motioned for Kyp to do the same.
“Welcome aboard gentleman,” the voice of Duke Harkness came across the loudspeaker.
“Thank you,” Pieter said, looking around. “Are you hiding on the dreadnought?”
“Yes, though I see it as overseeing. I would like for you to surrender your swords please. I know how you feel about it, yet it is—”
“Very well,” Pieter said, handing his sword hilt first. Kyp did the same without being told to. “And, what will you do now?”
“You will be brought to the ship, and you will be taken to the Masters,” Harkness said.
There are Masters, at least we are getting somewhere, Pieter thought. “Very well. The cutter is a little cramped with so many of these… things—”
“They are called soldiers, my dear Emissary. A good and loyal stock for troops.”
“Interesting,” Pieter said. “How many other kinds are there?”
“You will have all the answers soon, Emissary.”
The bugman with a sergeant insignia on his chest pointed to a small bench for both Kyp and Pieter. Kyp sat and looked around. Pieter could tell the youth was worried. “Calm yourself, Kyp. Keep running through the breathing control exercises.”
“Yes, Sempai.”
Pieter waited patiently, the cutter made for the dreadnought. One time Harkness came on again. “You will be pleased to know, I have kept my part of the bargain. The Ilvan ship and the woman will not be harmed. I am even letting her have what she wants.”
“How so?”
“You will find out. Or not,” Harkness gave a small laugh. “You will get the answers once you are aboard.”
“Are your Masters on board as well?”
“No, yet you will speak to them soon,” Harkness said before the connection was cut.
And now I wait. Pieter closed his eyes and meditated, once and again helping to correct Kyp while he tried to do the same.
Kyp was not the first one awake. Pieter looked at his apprentice and sighed, he is scared. He tried to do his best to help Kyp, yet the sight of the bugmen and the large dreadnought was enough to scare the kid. Pieter knew that the man known as Duke Harkness was not a fool. Kyp walked beside Pieter off the cutter unmolested. The man didn’t have any kind of guard on the two of them when they entered the large bay of the ship. The two moved around through hangar and the corridors of the dreadnought without a word or action from those around them. How is this possible
? There was something that nagged at him. This is too easy.
There were men in the drab olive of the Navy with their ugly faces wigh jaws. For a handful of moments, Pieter believed they wore masks over real human faces. Yet, Pieter had felt their minds. It was impossible to understand what they thought. They moved with a purpose, yet he couldn’t tell the purpose. It was something nebulous that echoed in their heads about The Collectove. He did know that they had a foreign concept of individuals. They thought that Pieter and Kyp were wrong, that somehow, this Duke Harkness, Masked One as they called him, would help the two of them and join The Collective.
It was not something Pieter had any intention of doing. He kept his senses open, searching for any kind of break, nook or cranny in the dreadnought that he could exploit. He knew from studies that the Imperium Navy used Emissaries rarely, wanting to keep them as diplomats as they served the Emperor. Yet, the Emissaries had their own ways, ways to infiltrate any organisation. Yet, this one was going to be nearly impossible, Pieter thought. There was no way for him to conceal himself as one of these creatures. They were impossible to imitate for long. There seemed to be something beyond their senses, something that connected all of them together that caused Pieter more fear. If these creatures have somehow found a way to tap the Void. The power that they could wield, pouring into each of them at the same time. The very thought of all of these bugmen using a small trace of the Void, all at once. It would be something that could be used to destroy the very Imperium. He pushed the thought aside.
Escape, and then worry about the future.
“Ahh, Pieter Strand. It is good to see you again,” the voice of Duke Harknesss can from off to Pieter’s left. Pieter turned, not realizing he and Kyp had been walking with escorts. Four of the bugmen guards had been around them, they appeared in the blink of ana eye. “Where did--”
“Haha, my dear Emissary, did you think you were alone and wondering my ship without escort? How big a fool do you take me for?” Harkness asked, his black velvet mask disturbed Pieter. From what Pieter had probed, there was nothing wrong with him. Yet he is never without it, interesting.
Pieter licked his lips. “I was startled by a commander walking around that wasn’t on the main deck. It is unusually for the one in charge to move about a ship like this without more of an escort is all,” Pieter looked at the two bugmen in black guard outfits. In their clawed hands they held the thick barred plasma rifles. Each had a sidearm as well as a balde of some kind. Yet, they were different than the other bugmen of the ship. Their jaws were smaller, with wicked barbed tusked that flanked the thick bone-like sideways jaws. Their skin was a lustrous black that made Pieter shudder.
“My personal guard,, the blackguard” Harkness said. “I thought I should take some precautions with an Emissary here.”
Pieter smiled, when a buzz slowly enter his mind. No it has beent here for some time. It must have been how he hid the escorts. He looked to Kyp and saw the youth shake his head and look at Pieter confused.
“Sempai, there is something—“
“Yes, my guards make sure that you cannot use that ‘Void’ of yours,” Harkness said with a smile. Pieter felt a cold shiver seeing the perfect white teeth of the man.
“Why do you want from us?” Pieter asked.
“I want nothing. I wish to give you to my masters, so they can make you better,” Harkness smiled an even cold smile.
“And, what do you mean by ‘better?’”
“You will see.”
Pieter looked at Harkness and tried to embrace the Void. He felt cut off. Harkness laughed at him. “Is there a problem?”
“How, how did you—“
“As I said, my blackguard are very good at what they do,” Harkness said. “Now, you an the youth shall be confined. And within a few days, you will be joining the Masters.”
There was something more to this, Pieter knew there had to be. He moved and the guards moved with Kyp and himself. They didn’t prod or push. Yet, there was a sense of menace that he and Kyp needed to keep moving or something would happen if they didn’t keep moving. After three levels of ups and downs, Pieter felt more confusion set in. He shook his head, and concentrated on his footsteps, counting them off in his head. Yet, the buzzing in his head didn’t stop. He should have been able to keep a map in his head, the buzzing made it harder and harder.
They were led to a small room that looked like it was made for storage. A small witch light lantern was set up above them. They were escorted in and then the door was closed. Kyp turned to Pieter. “Sempai, how are we going to—“
Pieter held his hand up. “Hush, apprentice. You don’t know who is listening.”
“Yes, Sempai.” Kyp sat in one corner, head in his hands.
Pieter sat across from him. “Apprentice, you aren’t sitting properly.”
“Now I’m not even sitting right?” Kyp asked. “Sorry Sempai, maybe if I knew your sodding plan, I’d be more at ease.”
Pieter raised an eyebrow. “Apprentice, Calmness and--“
“Serenity, yes I know.”
Pieter knew he was scared. I need to give him something to distract him. “You need to keep your back straight. It helps to keep your posture straight and helps you draw air from the diaphragm.” He waited until Kyp moved into the right position. It took a few moments but Kyp finally righted himself. Pieter set his hands in his lap, palms up with his fingers interlaced. “Breath in…and out…and in…and out.” While he instructed the youth verbally, he reached out to touch the Void. It was blocked. He wanted to slam against the shield. It was a way to break through was brute force. It was one of the first ways Saheed had taught him to breach a Void shield. Yet, there were other ways that needed help from other Void users. And sensing that he couldn’t break through alone, he reached out to touch Kyp’s mind.
Kyp?
Sempai?
Yes apprentice. Listen only do not react. You and I cannot break the shield on our own. Yet, if we both try to press at it, at different points, it might loosen enough for one of us to reach for the Void and help get us out of here.
Is this—
This is the sodding plan as you call it.
Yes Sempai. Pieter felt hesitation from Kyp. It passed and Kyp reached out to connect with Pieter.
The two of them reached out, Pieter helping to direct the two of them as they sought some weakness in the shield. Pieter started to feel something. While the shield was rigid, it gave at certain points. When he pressed where the shield felt more fluid, it grew rigid. He sensed that Kyp found the same thing happen. Pieter reached out to stop Kyp from reaching out again. Kyp, you and I need to press at the same time. Then, I will break—
Pieter stopped when Kyp slammed through the shield hard. Pieter felt the Void flood his apprentice and then Pieter latched onto it as well, embracing the power. He stood in one small leap as the bugmen rushed into the room. He slammed them down to the ground, grabbed the rifle of one of them and using it as a cudgel as three more tried to rush into the room. Before he could swing, Kyp slammed them across the small corridor into the bulkhead, crushing them into a greenish black mess. Pieter looked at his apprentice and saw a flicker of red.
“Kyp, stop. Stop now.”
“Yes Sempai,” Kyp said. He released the Void and his body slumped a little. “That was to far?” He asked, looking drained.
“A little,” Pieter said. He wanted to say something more about the Rift. He didn’t have time. “Yet, needed, we must go. They will know we escaped.”
The klaxons started as soon as Pieter stepped through the doorway. He sighed and nodded to Kyp. “Keep up. Use the Void only when you need to, understood?”
“Yes Sempai.”
The two set off down the corridor, running down a set of stairs, then up another. Pieter tried to recall where to go next. Yet the buzzing returned. He embraced the Void and felt something was trying to sever the connection. Holding the Void tight as possible. He felt clarity slowly settle on him. Pie
ter knew where he needed to go. He turned to his right as three bugmen spilling through the doorway. He slapped down the rifle of the lead one, tried to pull it away. When the thing resisted, he let go which sent the bugman falling into his own group. Pieter then grabbed all three with the power of the Void and threw them down the stairway the pair had ascended. They fell into a heap, flailing arms and legs in a sign of pain and life.
Pieter and Kyp found themselves in one of the hangar bays of the ship. Dozens of bugmen were moving around doing their own jobs. The small cutters like the one that had brought them aboard were here, ten of them in rows of two. Pieter and Kyp hid behind some cargo contains as the bugmen moved around.
“Any idea what to do, Sempai?”
“Get into one of the cutters, stop Harkness from following us and get to Callisto.”
“Any idea how?”
“Working on it,” Pieter said. His eyes kept moving, working on a plan and throwing it away before it got to far. They didn’t have anything. Not even there—
He smiled when he reached out with his senses and felt his sword. “Kyp.”
“Yes Sempai?”
“Reach out for your sword. Draw it to you.”
“Won’t that—“
“Cause a distraction?” Pieter asked, his hand out. He called to Sabe and felt his sword answer. “Yes it will,” he said with a smile. He felt Kyp reach out as well.
There was a sound of a bong bong bong from one of the cutters. Then, Pieter’s sword cut through the thin metal shell. It flew straight to his hands. He took hold of it, feeling the power rush into the sword as ten of the bugmen in the black garb rushed towards them.
“Did you think we didn’t know where you would go?” Duke Harkness’ voice boomed through the hangar. Pieter ignored the man as he leapt amongst the blackguard. He could feel Kyp coming after him. Then, he struck out, cutting down one of the blackguard, bringing his sword up to cut another’s plasma bolt in half. The shots angled off and struck two other blackguards. He lost himself in the fight. Twice, he felt the flicker of the Rift try and touch him. He pushed it away. Yet, he felt it more with his apprentice. He needs to control it more. I need to show him how. He pushed the thought aside and started to attack harder, cutting down the last of the blackguard that surrounded him and then Kyp finished his off. The two scurried into one of the cutters. Pieter went straight to the controls, Kyp looked around.
Void Emissary: The Book of the Void Part 1 Page 15
