“It is a pleasure to meet you, MasterKellyn,” he said.
She smiled and said, “Thank you, I am surethe honor is all mine.”
“Captain, would you do us the honor ofmarrying us?” I asked.
“Vydor, I would be honored!” he said with abig grin. “You can use our wedding chapel and all our facilitieshere.”
“Thank you, Captain, but Kellyn wants to getmarried here in her private garden,” I said.
“Well, I have done many weddings in my timeand one thing I have learned is that you never argue with thebride. If Kellyn wants it in her garden, then I will do it nowhereelse. Kellyn, if it would be acceptable to you, I would like tohost your reception here in our banquet hall. There are a lot ofVydor’s old shipmates who will want to come.”
“Captain, that is a most gracious offer, andI am happy to accept. Invite all whom you feel proper to thereception, but please only yourself, Zalith, and Dr. Rannor to theactual wedding. My garden is not big enough to hold many, and wewill already have the seven of us,” was her reply.
“Wonderful, then it is all set. Carol willcontact you about the arrangements after you arrive,” he said.
“Captain, can you ask Carol to contactAndreya instead? She is handling the arrangements for Kellyn,” Isaid.
“Thank you, Vydor,” responded Kellynprivately.
“Certainly. I must get back to my dutieshere, but I look forward to seeing you in a few days’ time,” hesaid and we wrapped up the call.
“FOUR DAYS??? HOW AM I GOING TO PLAN THISIN FOUR DAYS?!?!?” started Kellyn. Being the grandmasterwizard, supposedly with more power and knowledge than any othermortal in the realm, I knew exactly what to do. I called in Andreyato help with Kellyn’s panic attack, and slipped out.
I headed back to my quarters, planning to getsome rest. When I entered my room I saw the book on my shelf. Ithad been over a year since I had first cast the spell which allowedme to read it, but I had not yet opened the cover. Something insidetold me I was not ready yet, and still warned me against it.Logically there was no reason to worry; it was just a book, but Icould not get past that feeling that it was not yet the right time.Yet I knew in some way that this book had the answers I needed.
Just as I decided to sit and read it, I hearda voice come over our intercom. “Vydor, I just got off the linewith the Dragon Claw, and we have a nice data stream coming inupdating all of our navigational data. It seems likely with theupdated maps we can be clear of this field in six hours and shouldmake it to the Dragon Claw’s present position in about three days.”It was odd to actually hear a voice on this ship and it took me aminute to place it as Darnath’s. He had to use that to contact mebecause I was in my quarters.
“Thank you for the update, Darnath. As youheard the captain say, we need to get there as soon as we can, sotake whichever course is fastest. I am going to get some sleep. Asksomeone to wake me before the next jump,” I responded.
“Sure thing, Vydor,” he replied.
I looked again at the book. It was not veryremarkable from the outside. In fact, compared to the books fromMantis, it was downright plain. I thumbed through it brieflywithout really reading it and it seemed to be a collection ofshorter books. Well, that would have to wait until after thismission. I could not afford to be distracted by a new project justyet.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Vydor, this is our final jump. It shouldput us only ten minutes from the fleet,” came Darnath’s reportas I entered the bridge.
“Excellent,” I replied. The last fewdays since we spoke to the captain had been fairly uneventful.Kellyn and Andreya talked constantly about wedding plans, and Imostly stayed in the library studying everything we had on thesorcerers.
We all took our positions for the jump, whichnow entailed everyone except Darnath being in physical contact withme. The dark specter had not tried again since the first encounterhe had with all six of us, but he stayed close by, ready for anyopening. I knew that he had grown too powerful, and that alone Icould never stand against him, but he was no match for the six ofus. This jump was no exception. He stood and waited, again givingthe impression of saying, “Time is on my side. I can wait.”
When we came back into normal space, on theviewing screen in front of me was the fleet. I had forgotten howmassive it was. From this angle we could not see all of it. Itspread out far wider than our viewing screens could reach.
“I had better contact them before we dropout of stealth, just in case they are a bit trigger-happy,” Icommented. Kellyn brought up the connection on the main viewer, andsoon the captain appeared.
“Greetings, Captain, we are about nineminutes from your wake at present, and are about to drop out ofstealth,” I said.
“Excellent. As soon as you can, establish thegraviton link and pass navigation over to us for the next jump.There will be about a day and a half on the other side of the jumpwhile we skirt around a black hole, so we can have your celebrationthen,” he said.
Our ship’s engines would not be ready to makeanother jump for hours yet, but relative to the fleet we were soinsignificant that they would just drag us along.
“Darnath will get that link up as soon as weare in range. Captain, why don’t you, Dr. Rannor and Zalith join usfor dinner after the jump?” I asked.
“That sounds like a great idea, say at 2000?”he asked.
“2000 it is, then,” I said and we ended thetransmission.
After the jump Darnath ran up to the messhall to start cooking. He came from a long line of chefs and wepersuaded him into volunteering to cook all the major meals. Kellynand I also went up to prepare the table and make sure all was inorder.
Gafar offered to stay and watch the bridgeduring the dinner. Out here in interstellar space it was unwise toleave the bridge unmanned. There were too many unknowns to dealwith.
“Thank you, Gafar, but this is going to bea problem during the wedding tomorrow. I do not want anyone to haveto miss it,” I said.
“Well, maybe the captain can spare somecrew members to stand watch so that we need not worry aboutthat,” offered Kellyn.
“That is a brilliant idea,” I said. Iwas a bit annoyed I had not thought of such a simple answer.
While waiting for dinner, I went to theship’s library and focused on crafting the scrolls I would need forthe battle. I was deep into this preparation when I heard Gafarsend from the bridge, “Vydor, the captain’s shuttle is on itsway.”
“Okay, I guess we are ready. Land them inbay two.” Zalith would no doubt want to see the Dark Talon, soit was easiest to have them dock in the same bay. We went down tomeet them. As soon as the bay was pressurized, we entered it.
Zalith was the first off the shuttle. Iwalked right up to him and gestured at the Dark Talon while saying,“Hello, old friend, the Dark Talon is ready for you to fly her homeafter the meal.”
“Thank you, Vydor, but I took the liberty ofbringing two Dark Knights to take her home now.” As he said that,they came off the shuttle. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.I was worried what they would think of me, since I had ledtwenty-five of their squadmates to their death.
One of them walked right up to me and lookeddirectly into my eyes. He was a good half-meter taller than me, butI looked up and held his gaze. I knew that was what he wouldexpect.
“Vydor, we reviewed the logs and journals ofyour mission, and we are impressed at your honor and valor in theface of death. The battle was won because of your leadership,” hesaid and handed me an emblem.
I had to break his gaze to see what it was,and I barely held my composure. It was the emblem of the DarkKnights. The significance of this gift was not lost on me; I knewwhat it meant. They now numbered me as one of their own. Using aminor bit of magic I attached it to my staff, which had become thesymbol of my rank. “It will be an honor to fight with the DarkKnights again,” I said with as much pride in my voice as I couldmuster.
He just gave a slight nod, and they went overto the Dark Talon. I saw that the captain and
Dr. Rannor haddisembarked from the shuttle. “Well, if I know the Dark Knightsthey will be asking for clearance to launch right away, so let’smove out of the bay,” I commented. As we exited I told Gafar togive the Knights clearance to launch as soon as they wereready.
Once we were out in the hall, propergreetings and introductions were exchanged all around. Kellynseemed to be a bit embarrassed over the compliments she received,but she deserved them all and more. As we walked through thetraining rooms on our way to the lift I noticed the captain waslooking around. I wondered what he was looking for. Soon we got tothe lift and were on our way to the top deck, and the observationlounge.
On the ride up, the captain remarked, “Youknow, Vydor, for some reason I was expecting strange things, but sofar your Raven looks, well … normal.”
I just smiled and opened the door to theobservation lounge with its wide-open view of the fleet around us.Our visitors caught their breath as they walked out under it. Theydid not say anything for quite some time, and we just let them takeit all in. I finally could not resist any longer and said, “I thinkyou were saying something about how normal the ship was?”
“This is an awesome view, Vydor. It is easyto forget what is out there when you spend your time moving fromone office to another on the Dragon Claw,” said the captain.
“Yes, we eat most of our meals up here underthe stars. It is quite humbling,” I responded.
Darnath, Andreya, Jerran and Luke joined usand we moved over to the table to eat. For a while the conversationover the food was mostly small talk, but eventually it moved toquestions about us. Dr. Rannor began by asking, “Kellyn, is it truewhat they say about you?”
“Well, that depends on what they are saying,”she replied.
“They say you can instantly heal any injuryor illness,” he said.
“Well, not exactly. I can heal, but my powersare limited. For instance, I cannot turn back time and make anyoneyounger, nor can I help anyone who is already dead. Minor injuriesare easy, but major things like growing new limbs or organs take alot out of me. Mental illnesses are beyond me at this stage, whichis baffling. I am also fairly limited in the type of healing I cando. For example, if a person is brain-damaged, I can heal thephysical brain, but I cannot return to the person the memories andabilities that were lost,” she replied.
“That is remarkable,” he said.
“We are also told that you all talk to eachother without speaking, can move objects without touching them, andother impossible feats. How much of these stories are true?” askedthe captain.
“They are probably blown out of allproportion but we can do what you just listed. You must understandthat we are fairly weak compared to those we will be going upagainst. We have only had a year to study and practice, and thesearts take a lifetime to master,” I said.
“How does this all work?” asked Dr.Rannor.
“It is not as mystical as you might think.There is an energy force is woven through the universe which doesnot seem to interact at all with normal matter, at least not in anyway we have been able to detect. Some people are born with anability to tap and use this energy, and that is how we achieve whatwe do. The chanting, wands, and other trappings are used to helpfocus and store the energy, which is where it starts lookingmystical. It seems that each of us is gifted in a different way sothat what we can do with the energy is a little different. We canall do some basic things, such as talk telepathically, but for themost part our powers are sharply divided. For example, Kellyn isthe only one of us who can heal a serious wound, while Andreya is amaster of illusions,” I said.
“You make it sound so simple and normal, yetwe have seen what the sorcerers can do with this energy so we knowthere is great power in it. You say you cannot match them yet, sohow are we going to fight them?” asked Zalith.
“We are hoping that when combined with thepower of the fleet we will stand a chance. In truth we had plannedto stay in hiding for a few more years, but the recent developmentsout here make me a bit concerned. We need to monitor the situation,at least. I fear if the Seven are here then the sector is theirsand there is not much we can do about it. Historically, though, theSeven have not been known to come out to fight if they think themaster wizards are around to fight back, so we are banking on themoverestimating us.”
“Are you saying that their most powerfulleaders are cowards?” asked Zalith.
“Well, I studied the history of the war theyare fighting with the wizards of the other realm, and that is thepattern I have found. They always retreat when the grandmasterwizard or any of the master wizards appear on the scene and send intheir underlings to fight for them, and our combined forces shouldbe able to handle their underlings,” I said.
“That is simply unbelievable: to have allthat power, and then be afraid to stand and fight,” commentedZalith.
While they continued to ask questions of theothers, a thought occurred to me. “Gafar, Dr. Rannor’s brain hasseveral memory blocks in it. We do not know who put them there orwhy. Assuming he agrees, can you remove them, as you did forme?” I asked telepathically.
“Most likely, but it would be a fairlyinvasive probe and he would not be able to hide anything,” hereplied.
“Well, this has been a great visit, but wemust be getting back to the Dragon Claw. Rumor has it I have to getup early for a big event tomorrow,” said the captain.
“I understand, Captain. Too bad you cannotstay for a tour of our little ship. We had to completely gut it andstart over to make it the way we wanted,” I said.
“Perhaps another time,” he said.
After that Kellyn was whisked away byAndreya: something about not seeing the bride before the wedding. Istarted to protest but the captain reminded me never to argue witha bride about her wedding.
Once we got to the bay I stopped them andsaid, “Captain, I have another favor to ask. We would like allseven of us to attend the wedding and reception, but that wouldleave the Nevermore with no one on watch. Would it be possible foryou to send over some trusted officers to stand watch for us?”
Zalith turned, gestured at the new emblem onmy staff and said, “The Dark Knights would be honored to come toyour aid.”
“Then that is settled. We will send them overin the morning,” said the captain.
“Vydor, if you don’t mind, I would like tostay behind and take that tour you offered,” said Dr. Rannor.
“Of course, we can fly you back later if youwish, or you are welcome to stay in our guest quarters,” Isaid.
“Well, if it is no trouble to you, I wouldrather stay until the wedding,” he said.
I was surprised by his request, but it was noproblem, so I granted it.
With that settled, the captain and Zalithboarded the shuttle and left. Zalith’s comment about the DarkKnights and their gift of the emblem had lifted from me a heavyburden I had carried since I had lost the squad. All this time Ithought I had failed, yet had it not played out the way it had Iwould never have met the Black Adders and we would have lost thefight for that planet, which would have spelled the end of theEmpire. The weight that lifted from me was amazing. I had feltstifled all this time by that guilt.
Then I realized that was the weaknessexploited by the dark specter in the gate. Every time I let myanger and depression get the better of me, he grew stronger. When Ihad nothing but love and support around me, he was powerless. Thiswas an amazing breakthrough. I had to share it with Kellyn, but shewas in Andreya’s quarters and out of my reach. I asked Darnath toget a message to her, and after some argument he agreed to try, butmade no promises of getting past Andreya.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Once the shuttle was gone I turned to thegood doctor and asked, “Do you really want a tour, or would youprefer a comfortable place to sit and talk?”
“I think a talk would be good,” he said.
“Then let’s go to the library,” I said andled him to the lift.
We rode up in silence; he seemed nervous. Iwanted to reach out and find out wh
at was wrong, but I resisted. Hedeserved the privacy of his own thoughts. When we finally enteredthe library he looked around and said, “Impressive.”
“Come now, Doctor, the only thing impressiveabout this library is its room to grow,” I said.
“What do you mean? You have more real bookson that one shelf alone than I have seen in my entire life!” washis reply.
I looked around the room and said, “Funny howtwo people can see the exact same thing and get such differentfirst impressions.”
“I think it has to do with what you have tocompare it to. Obviously you have seen a much greater library, andI have not.”
“Yes, I have and most of these books arecopies from it. Come this way. I have a place where we can sit withaccess to refreshments.” I was not sure when I had picked up thehabit, but I rarely read any more without snacks or a drink of somekind.
We entered an area of the library that hadvery few shelves; instead it had big, comfortable reading chairs,end tables and a small food locker. This was my favorite area ofthe library. Its partial seclusion allowed me to become immersed inwhat I was reading.
I got myself a big mug of coffee and asked,“Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you,” he said.
I settled into my favorite chair, and he satacross from me. “Now then, Doctor, what is on your mind?”
“Well, Vydor, remember those memory blocks wespoke about last year? Did you ever find out if you had more?”
“That was the only one, and it appears tohave been put in place because of the secret message I was decodingat the time,” I said.
“Ah. Well, I was able to find out more aboutmine. This is the strangest thing; it turns out they are of my owndoing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, perhaps I should show you,” he said,as my cup began to float up.
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