Chapter Twenty
The rest of our time there passed with littleof note occurring. We ended up splitting our time between studyingand trading memories of what we learned. This constant exchange ofmemories helped draw us much closer as a team than ever before.Soon, though, the purple sands of time began to run out, and Mantisreturned to speak with us.
“Well, I hope you enjoyed your little rest.As we speak the first of the rocks is closing in on the colony.Your crewmates did well. In this first wave at least six largerocks will hit in rapid succession, with three more waves on theway. When all is done, well over fifty large rocks will hit thatworld. The sorcerers are just now realizing their error and, sincetheir gate is not yet repaired, most will not make it off theplanet. The elite and higher level of their number can travelwithout the gate, but the rest will perish. This will be theirbiggest single loss in a century. That would be an impressive featfor an army of wizards; it is completely unthinkable for an army ofmundanes!” Mantis said with obvious astonishment.
“I take it then my message got through to thefleet,” I said.
“Yes, it did,” said Mantis. “You are probablywondering how we kept tabs on you while you were on the colonysince you spent most of the time hiding. Well, the truth is we havespies on the Dragon Claw and in the sorcerers’ forces that kept usadvised of everything, and between the two we were able to piecetogether what was going on down there. We also discovered that theDark Talon never returned to the fleet.” He stopped there andhesitated, but then continued, “Since we had intercepted yourcommunications to the Dark Talon, we were able to recreate yourcommands and contacted the ship. Yesterday it was still in orbitaround the planet, so we sent it away from the area to a saferlocation. Our plan is to put you on to the Dark Talon when wereturn you to your realm.”
“Will you reveal who your spies are?” Iasked. “Since we will not be part of the Imperial Navy any more, wewould find such a source of information helpful.”
“Well, we could but it wouldn’t do you anygood. You see, the spies do not know who they are. We have simplyfound some people in key positions who are very susceptible to ourmind-reading. I assure you they have no idea they are helping us,”was his answer.
I was relieved to hear that. I would hate tothink I had promoted or rewarded someone who was a traitor. “Well,yes, we would still like to know so that we, too, can monitor themif need be.” I really had no intention of doing that, but it wouldbe good to know who was being used and who was not in case ourfriendship with this other council ever got rocky.
“That’s brilliant, Vydor!” I heardKellyn say via our connection. We had grown much closer over thepast few days and maintained a more or less permanent telepathiclink which was separate and deeper than that with the rest of thegroup.
“Certainly. I will include a list with thebooks when I finish collecting the copies I’ve had made for you.Now you need to get yourselves ready. In one hour I will be sendingyou back to your realm,” Mantis said.
“Mantis, once we are there, how will we reachyou for future communication?” I asked.
“In one of the books I am giving you there isinformation on how to create and use a communication sphere. Youwill be able to use that to communicate with anyone else who has asphere, no matter where they are, including me.” He turned and leftthe room promptly again. He seemed to have no use for goodbyes.
“Well, I guess it’s time to pack up,”I said and looked at the small amount of gear I had left. That waswhen I found the book again. I had forgotten about it because ofeverything that had happened and, now that I could read it, therewas no time to do so. I pulled it out anyway and looked at thecover. The title on it was simple and bold; it merely said, “TheBook.”
“Vydor, you must tell me the story behindthis book of yours soon. It looks very intriguing,” commentedKellyn. She could sense the feeling of wonderment I had about thebook and knew it was special.
I packed the book away and replied, “Itwas my last gift from my father before he died.”
“Ah, then we must keep it safe always.”
Once we had all our gear packed, we sat downfor one last meal at the table, which had still not run out of foodor drink.
“I guess one of us should have learned howthis table works,” mused Luke. This brought a chuckle from allof us.
We ate mostly in silence until Mantisreturned. When he entered the room, he simply said, “It is time,”and walked out. We followed him and he led us back to the gateroom. A feeling of fear passed over me as I recalled the last timeI had gone through that gate, and I felt Kellyn come up beside mein support.
Mantis approached the gate and waved his armsover it while chanting in an arcane tongue. Soon a small, bluespiral appeared in the center and grew to fill the gate. “It isready,” was all he said as he pushed a big chest through it.
“Goodbye, Mantis, and thank you,” I said andwalked up to the gate. As the leader, I felt I should be the firstto brave the gate, but Kellyn would not let me go alone. So we bothwent through. In the gateway I saw him again, the dark specter,patiently watching and waiting as if all of time was on his side. Ialso saw the being of light, this time much closer than he had everbeen before, but still with his arms wide as if to say, “Come tome.”
I could still feel Kellyn beside me as wetraveled through the gate, and I knew she could see all that Icould see because I could see all that she saw. In her vision therewas no dark specter, and the being of light was much closer.“What are they?” I wondered.
Before she could attempt an answer we werestanding on the Dark Talon, and soon after the rest of the Councilcame through. I went to the bridge and activated the viewing screento see what was happening. We were a safe distance from the planet,but well within range of the ship’s cameras. From the looks ofthings the first wave of rocks had already landed, and the secondwave was about to hit. We all stood there and looked in awe at thedeath of the planet. The surface was completely molten by the endof the attack. Nothing could have survived it.
“I guess it’s a bit late to ask if I cango back and get my comic books?” asked Luke.
The total irrelevance of that question nearlykilled us all with laughter. Eventually we recovered, and I took myseat of command. The ship could fly mostly automated as long as wedid not have to fight anyone. I set a course back to the DragonClaw.
“I plan to return to the fleet. The tripback to the capital will be much faster if we ride with them, butthis ship can take us if it needs to,” I said.
“Vydor, I suggest you try to contact themfirst. As I recall, the standard procedure is to destroy any shipsin the system after a bombardment,” commented Jerran.
“Good point,” I said. I activated theship’s communication equipment and opened a secure channel to thefleet.
“Dragon Claw, this is Dark Talon reportingin, authorization code Kelly-Red-Igloo-Sam-Theta-Igloo, do you readme?” was the message I sent. I set it on repeat and waited for areply.
“Dark Talon, this is the captain. What isyour status?” came the reply. I checked all the reply codes and themessage looked legit.
“Captain, the Dark Talon appears to beintact, but only seven of us made it off the planet, myself and sixof the Black Adders. Sir, I would like the record to show that theDark Knights fought to the death in order to give me a chance toget our information out to you. I would also like the record toshow that I used my battlefield authority to grant the Black Adderseach a Medal of Honor for their valor in combat against the enemiesof the Empire, who we now know call themselves sorcerers.” I neededto get that on the record before I resigned so that it wouldstick.
“Record duly noted and accepted. How longbefore you can reach the fleet?” the captain asked.
“Sir, without a navigator to calculate a jumpit will take several days, if not a week. Can you send the jumpalgorithms for the autopilot?” I asked.
“Affirmative, Vydor. I will get someone tosend it to you on this channel soon. Once you return we will need acomp
lete debriefing before I can assign you back to your post.”
“Sir, we will be glad to comply with that,but hold off on any reassignments for now. Captain, this soundsodd, I understand, but we have information that must reach HighCommand in person. I received special orders directly from theEmperor’s office before I left for the mission, and I must ask youto take us back to the capital right away. If you cannot, then Iwill need you to send the jump algorithms to the Dark Talon to takeus back.”
“Well, normally that would cause a problem,but we already have orders to return to the capital, so there willbe no difficulty there. Since you are still operating under ordersfrom them, I will not be able to return you to your position asyet. I look forward to your return, Vydor. I am sure you have muchto tell. Dragon Claw out.”
With that the transmission ended. Not longlater the jump data came in, and I entered it into the navigationsystem. I looked over my team and could tell that everyone wasnervous. “Remember, should this plan fail, we will have nooption but to steal the Dark Talon and escape. Darnath, make surethat no one can enter or interfere with her at all while we areaway. If you have any questions, this is probably your last chanceto ask them,” I said.
No one said anything. I knew they wereworried about our situation. It should not have been like this;after all, we were going home, but I felt it too. It was not reallyhome any more. “Okay, the jump is laid in. Buckle yourselvesin,” I ordered.
“Kellyn, I will need you to watch over meduring the jump. I will be meditating in order to avoid thepost-jump hangover just in case the jump algorithms are off,” Isaid to Kellyn privately. Jump calculations were notoriouslytricky, and we would come out of the jump extremely close to thegravity wake of the fleet. Even a minor error could be deadly, so Iwanted to be ready to take control of the ship the instant we cameout of the jump.
Kellyn slid into the chair next to mine andgrabbed my arm so that we would be one physical unit in jump space.Once everyone appeared to be ready I called out, “Jumping inthree … two … one.” As I said the last number, I dropped into ameditative state. The next thing I heard was the ship’s alarmsgoing off as we came out of the jump. We were on a collision coursewith the Dragon Claw! I quickly steered us to safety and broughtthe ship out of stealth mode.
“Vydor, the specter merely watchedpatiently, as if to say, ‘I have plenty of time. I’ll catch youunguarded one day …’ and did not attack,” said Kellyn privatelyto me.
“Thank you, Kellyn,” was myresponse.
“Dark Talon, this is Bay Control on theDragon Claw. Come about to 284.78 degrees and engage the autopilot.We will bring you into bay Five-E,” came a message over thecommunicator.
I did as they said then replied,“Acknowledged. You should have control now.”
“Affirmative, enjoy the ride.”
“Five-E, that’s not good,” Icommented.
“What is wrong with Five-E?” askedGafar.
“Well, that is where they send you if theythink you are carrying a contagious disease, so that means we willhave to go through quarantine and disinfection,” was myreply.
“Well, that could work in our favor. Thebest option for us right now is to keep silent until we get to HighCommand, and if we are stuck in quarantine for a while, that wouldbe much easier to pull off,” noted Darnath.
I smiled. He was right; this could not playout any better. Only the captain and Dr. Rannor would come to seeus there. “Plus it gives us an excuse to lock the ship,” Isaid. “If I recall right, since we were on a non-Imperial worldfor a while we will have to be kept in quarantine for forty-eighthours, but it is at least a week to the capital from here. I willhave to see if I can pull some strings and keep us in there longer.No matter what happens, your cover story is that I am operatingunder command from the Emperor’s office and I have ordered you notto talk to anyone about the mission, the colony, the Magi, oranything related until we are properly debriefed by the HighCommand. Also do not forget that Larath is on this ship, so do notlet your guard down, as we do not yet know the extent of his poweror what role he is playing in this.”
Security forces poured into the bay once theship was safely secured. They were all wearing biohazard gear, butonly carrying ceremonial weapons. They lined up along the path wewould have to walk to get to the decontamination area and snappedto attention. “A hero’s welcome home,” I said. That was avery good sign.
“Dark Talon, this is Bay Control. You arecleared to disembark from your vessel and proceed to Decon roomseven,” came a voice over the speakers.
“Bay Control, this is Dark Talon. We will beestablishing a quarantine field around the Dark Talon until furthernotice. Keep all personnel and gear at least ten meters away,” Ireplied.
“Acknowledged,” came the reply.
“Okay, it is time. Follow me out,” Isaid as I opened the airlocks. The Dark Talon automatically lowereda ramp for us to walk down. Kellyn came down at my side, and theothers followed, with Darnath bringing up the rear. As soon aseveryone was clear, I signaled the Dark Talon to lock itself up,and I saw Darnath erect an energy field around it.
As we walked through the corridor formed bymy old security forces they snapped a stiff salute, and theImperial Anthem played over the bay’s speakers. As we reached theend of the line I saw my replacement standing there with a look ofpride on his face, as if to say, “I knew you could do it!” I gavehim a smile and a slight nod as I passed. I knew that I was leavingthe fleet in good hands with him.
Next we passed down a corridor and allpretense of honor was gone as we had to walk through various cloudsof chemicals, sprays and irradiation chambers all designed to killeverything but us. Once we finished that walk we entered a small,square room with just enough space for seven beds, a few tables anda bathroom. At each table was a computer workstation, in case wefelt the motivation to get right to work.
“Well, pick your bed and relax as best youcan until we hear from someone. Speak freely, but only via ourtelepathic connections. Say as little as possible verbally,” Iordered.
Chapter Twenty-One
Two hours passed with no outside contact fromanyone until the captain arrived. One wall of the room wastransparent, allowing easy communication with anyone in a sittingroom which was connected but secured from any chance ofcontamination. The captain’s large frame made the visitors’ roomlook like a child’s playhouse. He walked close enough to seethrough the wall and waited. I got up from the table where I wassitting and stood before him, not precisely at attention, butenough to convey respect.
“Welcome home, Vydor,” he said. “And welcomeaboard to your squad.”
“Thank you, sir,” I replied.
“What happened to your uniforms?”
“Well, when we left the planet three or fourdays ago, we had to hide out amongst the natives of the world wewere on so we are dressed as they dress.”
“What planet, and why were you hiding?”
“Sir, I am not able to tell you much, atleast not before my debriefing by High Command, but there are somethings you need to know. The first thing is that war has come tothe Empire, and the new enemy wields weapons of vast power. Sir,understand that what I am about to tell you for the most part youwill probably never have clearance to know, but you will be on thefront line of this war so I am going to break some rules.”
“Go on.”
“Captain, what we were calling the Magi whenI left here are an alien race, a very hostile alien race. They camehere looking for something. What they were looking for we do notyet know, but what we do know is that they chose this colony toattack because the Black Adders were there. They saw them as theonly threat to their eventual takeover of the Empire. I hope yougot my report from the field about how easily they beat LieutenantTom’s forces and faked the distress call?”
“Yes, we did. Some of that footage was verytroubling, especially your dogfight with nothing in orbit.”
“Yes, that it was. Think about this scenariofor a moment: the sorcerers turn both the
ir fear weapon and theirhallucination weapon on the fleet at the same time. They makeeveryone very afraid and then make them think they are surroundedby enemies…”
“It would be a bloodbath. We have alreadyplayed that out, and a dozen other possibilities. None of themlooks good.”
“Well, we know now you can add superiordefenses, firepower and mobility to their advantages.”
“I take it that shield around the Dark Talonis something you acquired from them?”
“No, not exactly, but it is something theycan do, too. Let me fill you in on the broad events that happenedafter those logs ended. The Dark Knights and I were pinned down ina tight corridor, unable to make much of a dent in the forcesbrought against us. They stood and held the position and our enemyat bay long enough for me to escape the death trap, with the helpof the Black Adders who showed up to help, but before any of themcould follow me the sorcerers brought out heavy weapons and brokethough our shield walls, completely devastating the squad. TheBlack Adders and I then pushed on to send what data I had to you,all the while staying just out of reach of the sorcerers’ patrols.We knew that they had an escape route off the planet, so we knew wehad to destroy that before they realized the peril they were in.They use a gate to travel through, and once we learned how tooperate it we laced it with explosives and used it to escape. Justas we were leaving they found us and opened fire on our unshieldedposition, and they thought they had succeeded in killing us beforewe escaped. That is why we had to hide out; we had to let themthink they had won so that they would not rush to build a new gate.You see, your bombardment attack exploited a big weakness in theirdefenses; they can only scan for living things. That is why onlythe Imperial sensors that were on the colony detected the probes.By the time those sensors could have seen the rocks it would havebeen much too late to raise a defense. We do not have exactnumbers, but we do know that you scored a crippling blow on theirability to make war in this realm. They will have to reorganize andredeploy before they can attack again. We do not know how long thatwill take, but I do know that once they find out we are still alivewe will be their first target.”
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