Also on this level was the Crystal Room. Thiswas a secure room with no physical doors, and no one other thanMantis and the seven of us had seen it since we had ordered thestation’s workers to seal it off. The last they saw of the room, itwas completely empty. They thought we were nuts for wasting thatspace. The room did not stay empty for long, thanks to somedonations from Mantis.
Inside the room was a round table made ofpure, polished amethyst surrounded by seven thrones. In the centerof the table was a diamond sphere that we used to communicate withMantis. The room was not only sealed physically, it was also sealedwith the most powerful magic locks we could muster, and whenever welearned of better spells we upgraded them immediately. This was ourofficial council chamber where we met to make rulings and plans. Itwas sealed off from the noise of life so that we could focus on thetask at hand, and secured so that no one could monitor ourdiscussions.
From there I went down to the next level,which contained the crew’s quarters. This level was mostly emptysince the ship was designed to carry one hundred and fiftyfamilies, and there were only seven of us. With all this space tospread out, we ended up choosing seven rooms that were all in acluster together. The rooms were all very similar. They eachcontained a sleeping section, a bathing section, and an area foreating and working. The ship had a larger room that was typicallyused for captain’s quarters, but I decided to make it into a guestsuite for entertaining official dignitaries. Each of our rooms hada telepathic seal on it so that we each had a place to retreat to,a little bit of solitude to help balance the constant close contactthat our powers caused between us. This was something the othersinsisted on, and I did not understand at first. They had spent mostof their lives living with their minds in virtual glass houses, andI had only just begun to experience the openness of it all. Forthem these rooms were a lifelong dream, and for me it almost seemedlike a step back to my previous life. Since it was so important tothem, I did not fight them at all on it. Now that I had spent moretime in that glass house with them, I was beginning to understandthe need for these sanctuaries of peace.
Below that level was the central core of theship. All the critical ship’s systems were here, including thebridge, central computer core, engine rooms, and medical wing. Themedical wing was a bit superfluous for us, since Kellyn’s was farsuperior to any mundane medical treatment, but Darnath pointed outthat someday Kellyn might get hurt and we might need it.
When the council was formed Mantis had saidwe would all need to learn all forms of magic, but that seemed tobe impossible. Each of us knew the basics of all the powers, butcould only excel in one or two areas. Any of us could heal basicwounds and sickness, but if it was serious only Kellyn could healit. The same was true of Gafar’s ability to probe minds. When Iquestioned Mantis about it he just laughed, and never did answer.Mantis, for all his desire to help, was often a bit hard to makeout.
The ship’s machine shop and fabrication roomswere on this level too. There we could make whatever parts orequipment we would need, assuming we had enough raw materials onhand. Everything on the ship was designed to be recyclable so thatin a pinch we could rip out nonessential parts and reuse them tomake repairs to crucial systems.
The next level was taken up entirely by theship’s gardens. Here was the source of all of our food and oxygen.A large force of robotic workers maintained most of it, but Kellynhad staked out a plot of her own. It produced no food; she justwanted a place to grow some pretty flowers. Since most of what wasgrown we could never have begun to eat, giving a small plot to herwas a luxury we could afford.
The lowest level on the Nevermore was mostlyunused at this time. It was the area designated for teaching andtraining new wizards. Jerran was often down there practicing hisspells. He had a real affinity for explosive and fire magic so heneeded a safe place to work where he would not be in danger ofdestroying anything. In fact, it was during one of his practicesessions we learned just how much Kellyn’s healing power wasgrowing.
Luke, who also had an affinity for elementalmagic, often came down here to practice his art too, though his wasmore centered on electricity than fire.
Andreya had it much easier, as she couldpractice her powers anywhere. Andreya was undoubtedly the master ofillusions, such that even the master wizards of Mantis’s realm wereimpressed by her skill. According to Mantis there were very few whocould match her, and he knew only of one to exceed her, and thatwizard was a member of their council!
Kellyn had a lot of opportunity to practiceher healing arts during the refitting of the ship, as many workersthroughout the station learned to come to her first for treatmentof any serious injury. Her skill grew at a phenomenal rate. At onepoint I personally witnessed her cause a man to grow a new arm thathe had lost in a blaster misfire many years before. After a while,we had to set specific hours during which people could come to herfor treatment, just to prevent her from getting overworked. Thestation workers might have feared us, but they were sure to missher.
Darnath also would come down here to practicehis art. We were a little surprised that Darnath turned out to bethe one to have an affinity for summoning magic. He could callforth all kinds of creatures to help us in our tasks.
The shuttle bays were on this level, and soonthe Dark Talon would be parked in one of them. The Nevermore wastoo massive to be practical for use in reaching the surface of aplanet, so I requested several small ships similar to the DarkTalon to be used for that purpose and for other times when weneeded small vessels. The Emperor gave us three such craft, whichwas less than I wanted, but more than I expected so I guess itworked out for the best.
That completed my tour of the ship so Iheaded for the mess hall to meet Kellyn. She naturally knew when Iwas coming, so the fact that I was thirty minutes late was not anissue. As I arrived she was just finishing laying out a nice steakdinner. I smiled as I saw her; she was stunning with her long, darkhair and slender build.
Somewhere along the line we gave up any hopeof hiding our growing relationship. At first we both tried to denyit, even to each other, but none of the others believed us. Whyshould they have? After all, we all had basic telepathicpowers.
Because of the pace of life — her clinic, thework necessary to get this ship ready, and the intense study — wehad not had a lot of time to spend together over the last year, butwe made it a point to meet for dinner like this as often aspossible. The others always seemed to find something else to dowhen we met up, for which we were grateful. Of course, the onlytime we were truly alone was when we visited each other’s quarters.This was a special dinner, though, and I did everything I could tomake sure she did not guess it. That was not easy considering howdeeply she knew me, but I believed I had been successful.
Our conversation at first was very casual andwandered around from topic to topic. Then she mentioned how nice itwould be for me to see my old shipmates on the Dragon Claw again.That was the opening I was looking for. “That will be nice,especially to see the captain again,” I said.
I paused and reached into my pocket andpulled out a small box. She gasped when she saw it. Before shecould say anything, I opened it and showed her a diamond ring.“Kellyn, would you accept me as your husband?”
She broke down in tears; I was not expectingthat reaction. Unsure what to do next, I just sat there. Then,speechless, she held out her hand and nodded. I placed the ring onher finger and said, “I would like the captain to marry us whenwe meet up with the fleet.”
She could not get any words out but theemotions overwhelming our connection were clear, a mixture ofshock, joy and love. When she could finally talk she said, “Andall this time I thought I could predict your every move!”
After we had talked for some time, Andreyafinally lost her patience and barged into the room to congratulateus. Kellyn asked her to be her maid of honor, and Andreya let herknow that there was no way she would let Kellyn even think ofgiving that position to anyone else. From then on all the excitedtalk was about where and how to have the wedding. Andreya suggeste
dthat she should do all the decorations, and Kellyn said she wantedto hold it down in the gardens. After a while I left them to workout the plans. I knew that a man’s place in such affairs was justto smile and nod, so I left to get out of the way.
I headed to the library to read, and was metby Darnath, Gafar and Luke in the lift. After their playful kiddingaround Gafar spoke up and said, “Okay, Vydor, how did you keep thathidden?” Gafar, being a master telepath was a bit put out by thefact even he had not known.
“Easy, I am the grandmaster wizard,remember?” I said.
“No, seriously. I never even saw you buy thering. You must let me in on your secret.”
I smiled an evil smile and tried to come upwith my best Mantis impression, “That’s simple, because you did notknow to look.”
“I guess a bachelor party is out of thequestion,” commented Luke.
“Yes, I think that would be a horrible idea,”I said as quickly as I could, which brought on more kidding fromthem about me being henpecked already, until we all heard Kellynremark how terrible it would be if she just let us suffer the nexttime we got sick.
Once I finally got away from the jokers, Iwas able to get to the library to study. The first thing I wantedto do was resync the ship’s database with the station’s database sothat we would have the most accurate information possible before weleft the next day. That would take several hours, and probablygenerate a few complaints from the station administrators, butsince I would be gone tomorrow I was not too worried about theirwrath.
While that worked I started digging throughwhat we already had. I wanted to see if there were any legends ormyths that could explain the dark specter. Tomorrow would be thefirst time we reentered jump space in over a year, and I was notlooking forward to another contest with him. In fact, I was worriedabout it. Sooner or later I knew he would win, the question waswhen. He seemed so much closer and more powerful the last time Isaw him than ever before.
While I searched I felt Kellyn’s familiartouch as she ran her fingers through my hair. She wanted me to growit out now that we were free from the Imperial requirement of shorthair, and I was glad to oblige. “Vydor, you are scared. I cantell.”
“Yes, I cannot hide that from you. Tomorrowwe will face him again.”
“I will be with you, and we are much greaterthan the last time we fought him. We have both grown considerablyin power; he does not stand a chance. With your awesome might andmy healing, how could he win? You are no longer a helpless mortal;you are the grandmaster of wizards!”
“You are right, of course, thank you. Butthere is something else I need to tell you, something you shouldknow before we get married.” As I said that I pictured myfather on his deathbed, and his father before him, and so on.
To my surprise she just smiled and said,“Oh, Vydor, I know about all that. The reason medical sciencecannot cure it is because it is not a physical illness.”
“What do you mean?”
“The dark specter that chases you is thecause of it. It is a dark curse on your family line going back moregenerations than I can imagine. When we beat the dark specter, thatwill be the end of the disease too, and until then I can keep youhealthy. Now, I am off to bed. I hope to get an early start andmake one last pass through the hospital before we leave,” shesaid, then gave me a kiss and left.
If I was the grandmaster wizard, why did Ifeel like a child playing at being god? I shut off the terminal andheaded for bed. I would need my energy for the next day, that wascertain.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
My alarm told me that it was time to get up,but I had not had much sleep. I spent the night fighting offnightmares. Ready or not, we would be leaving soon, so I headed upto the bridge.
When I arrived, everyone except Kellyn wasthere; apparently she was still in the clinic curing people. “Wewill launch when Kellyn is finished. Darnath, is the jump routelaid in?”
“Yes, everything should be set,” heresponded.
“Okay, just a word of warning. Kellyn and Iwill not be meditating before the jump, so you will have to handleeverything during our recovery.”
“Vydor, only Darnath needs to be awakeafter the jump to execute the second jump. The rest of us willstand with you,” said Andreya.
“The six of us bring a lot of power to thetable. Your demon does not stand a chance against the united forceof the Council of Wizards,” declared Gafar.
I looked at each of them as they allindicated they would not let me stand alone, and I was touched bytheir dedication. “You are right, for if any of us tries tostand alone, we will fall,” I said. I was not sure where thatcame from; someplace deep inside me, some forgotten corner of mymemory.
Not long after, Kellyn returned and came upto the bridge. She looked lovingly at everyone and said, “Thankyou.”
I contacted the station and requestedpermission to launch, to which the reply came that we were clear todo so. “Gafar, engage stealth mode and take us out.” It wasimportant that we did not give away the location of where we hadbeen staying, since everyone knew we had come to meet with theEmperor. After we cleared the station I said, “Best speed tojump space.”
“I estimate ten minutes until we canjump,” said Gafar.
“Wow, this ship is impressive. It wouldhave taken an hour with the Dark Talon,” I replied. The shipdid not lurch forward like the Dark Talon did; it was a very smoothand even acceleration. The only indication of the change in speedwas a slight change in pitch of the engines, which were anever-present background noise.
“Jumping in ten, nine, eight, seven, six…” As Darnath counted down I felt four sets of hands beingplaced on my back, and Kellyn grabbed my hand with both of hers.“…three, two…”
Suddenly we were in jump space, and this timeI turned completely around and faced the demon head-on. I lookedhim right in the eye and called out, “Not this time!”
I lowered my right hand at him and cast agreat bolt of energy directly at him that pushed him back quite abit, but he recovered quickly and charged. Then I felt powerpouring into me from the others, and I grabbed all that power andcast the bolt again. This time the blast hit him hard enough toknock me back and keep him at a very great distance. Just then theship dropped back into normal space, quickly reentering jump spaceas we executed our second jump.
This time the dark specter was standingcalmly at a great distance. He just stood there staring me down, asif to say, “Time is on my side. I will have you sooner or later.”This time I looked to the other spirit that followed me, and helooked greatly pleased. It was as if he was basking in the lightfrom the love and support of my fellow wizards. Before I could tryto talk to him, we reentered normal space.
Once we had all recovered, I saw Darnathlooking very anxious to know what had happened. I turned to him andsaid, “Round one goes to the Council of Wizards!” Thisbrought much cheering and exchanges of high fives.
“Vydor, I want you to know we are in thisfor the long haul. We realize that we will have to do this duringevery jump until we have victory, but victory will be ours as longas we remember what you said about standing alone,” saidAndreya.
“Thank you, Andreya, that means a lot tome. Darnath, what is our ETA to the Dragon Claw from here?” Iasked.
“I expect we will meet up with the DragonClaw in about seven days,” he responded. “Our next jump willbe in thirteen hours, as we have to coast by this neutron fieldbefore we can jump again.”
“Kellyn, please join me in the ready room.I think we have some news to discuss with the captain.” Theready room was a room off to the side of the bridge that was usedprimarily as an office for the captain of the ship. On our ship wehad no real use for it, but I thought it would be more proper touse that for this conversation than the general viewing screen.Mundane people really did not understand that they never talked tojust one of us, so they naturally felt more comfortable with moreprivate settings. I guess it helped them to forget how different wewere.
I took my seat in front of the screen whil
eKellyn put us through.
“Greetings, Master Vydor,” said the captain.I was surprised at his use of the formal title. I wondered if hewas trying to get used to my new position.
“Hello, Captain. Now that we are en route Ican talk a bit more freely,” I said.
“That is good to hear. When do you think youwill get here?” he asked.
“Darnath estimates seven days on our presentcourse. We are currently coasting by a gravity well and will not beable to jump again for thirteen hours,” I said.
“We have lost all contact with Terathan XV.This is playing out exactly like Arken IV. I would like to getthere as soon as possible. Is there any way you can get heresooner?” he asked.
“Well, this is the shortest route that thestation’s computers found for us. I could ask Darnath to see if hecan work out a faster one,” I said.
“I hear you are in a Raven. If I estimateyour location correctly, I think you can make it in four days.”
“Well, it is a Raven Mark II, actually, so wehave twenty-five per cent greater jump range than a Mark I.”
“Excellent, then you should have no problemwith this shorter route.”
“Well it seems you have a better database ofroutes than we were given access to. If you can send it, that wouldbe great.”
“I will get one of my officers to contactDarnath and they can work it out.”
“Captain, now that is out of the way, I havea personal request to make of you.”
“Certainly, Vydor,” he answered.
“Kellyn, come sit by me,” I saidprivately. Once she was settled I turned to the captain and said,“Captain, let me properly introduce to you Master Kellyn, formerlyof the Black Adders, and now master wizard and member of theCouncil of Wizards.”
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