by Reiter
“You walking me to my ship, Cutter?” she asked as she started down the corridor.
“Something like that,” the young woman answered.
“Stop it, I’m about to get all misty-eyed.”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about your plan,” Annsura shared.
“What about it?”
“It won’t work,” Annsura commented.
“You know, Cutter, I really hate it when you beat around the bush,” Persephone said softly.
Annsura reached over and took hold of Persephone’s shoulder, stopping her forward progress. “Captain, I mean it. It won’t work.”
“First of all, I never took you for the joking sort, Cutter,” Persephone sighed. “Secondly, if you don’t remove that hand, you’ll find out what sort of mood I’m in right now.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Annsura returned. “You can’t go straight at this guy, Captain. He sees you coming!”
“You think that’s the only card I’ve got to play, Cutter?” Persephone asked as her eyes tightened on Annsura’s. “That somehow without Z around I can’t find myself around a small room?”
“To be honest, I don’t know what card you’re going to play,” Annsura stated. “Goldie’s the only one you’ve been talking to lately.”
“Feeling a little left out, is that it?”
“Damn you, Captain,” Annsura hissed. “This guy outwitted Z! It doesn’t take much of a look around this ship to know that man has to be smarter than any three brains combined. Now you’re going to take him on and somehow get the drop on him?!”
The two women held each other’s glare for a moment and Annsura could see Persephone’s right hand open and close repeatedly. She squinted as she slowly took a step toward Annsura. “I’ve got a mission to fly, Cutter, so I don’t have the time to make this easier for you to digest. This has never been and never will be a democracy.”
“In case you missed it, Captain, I’m not voting,” Annsura said confidently. “The Daedalus has been returned to its stall. Nothing is ready to launch. And since you did miss this part, let remind you that I am Cutter of this ship.”
“And I am the Captain!” Persephone stressed.
“And just as much a part of the crew as everyone else!” Annsura quickly argued. “I don’t recall you telling me that I was to see to the crew except for the Captain.”
“That’s not the only thing you won’t be able to remember if you don’t stand down, and I mean right now!”
“Fine,” Annsura said, taking a step back. Before Persephone could take another breath Annsura drew the knife Persephone had given her. “To the hilt then!”
“I don’t have time for this, Cutter.”
“Make time!” Annsura demanded, “because as Cutter and acting First Mate, I’ve locked down all unnecessary ship functions. They’re not about to unlock unless I give the order, or you take me down!”
Persephone resumed walking. She could have asked Satithe to override the order, but she did not want to bring the ship’s system into the middle of this madness. “You wanna be my warm-up, fine! There’s plenty of room on the launch deck!”
Annsura relaxed, but only so much. She carefully returned the blade to its scabbard and watched her Captain walk before following her. Persephone might have been on the Xara-Mansura, but Annsura was back at the pits, walking down the slender tunnel to the arena. There was always a slender walkway and always some sort of arena. Annsura took herself back to the last one she had walked – to the place where she had decided it was better to be dead than to continue as a pit-fighter. She looked up briefly to see Persephone still walking, and her head lowered to her chest.
“I promised,” she whispered. “I promised you that if you ever fell behind that I was coming to get you! Nothing’s changed, Z! Just have to climb a mountain first.”
** b *** t *** o *** r **
Qeldrun O’Zhar sat back in his chair before he gestured over to Lady Arjhaka Olyairon. She leaned forward to a console and pressed a few keys. She looked back at Qeldrun and nodded. “The transmission has been sent,” she advised. “We are waiting for him to open his end of the channel.” Thinking more and more about the cargo they had in the hold, Arjhaka grew more concerned with the imprisonment she had fashioned. With these thoughts moving through her mind, she looked to her captor and she could see he was growing weaker. She did not understand it, and wondered if she were looking through the eyes of wishful thinking. Qeldrun had lightened his load, after all. His mercenaries were asleep, and she was not mounting an effort against his hold of her mind. What was it that was draining the man?
Qeldrun closed his eyes and allowed his head to rest against the back of the chair. His exhale was long and slow. He took in enough air to speak. “Open the channel, Vidé,” he commanded. A moment later, the signal for a connection sounded from the console. “Report, Mr. Vidé.”
“I… I made contact with the Xara-Mansura,” the young man reported after some stammering. Qeldrun could feel the young man fighting him in earnest and, from the condition of his body, he could conclude that he had underestimated the Jockey. He had not expected a mind so strong, and even now, in contact with the young man, he did not feel overwhelming strength which added to the DreamCasteR’s confusion. Something was making him give more effort than he had expected to exert, but it was not the Cyber-Line Jockey.
“That much we expected,” Qeldrun replied. “What was Captain Starblazer’s response?”
“She is verifying the course to see if she will take it,” Vidé answered.
“Did you tell her the cost of her lack of cooperation?!” Qeldrun snapped.
“I did,” Vidé said before starting the playback of the recorded conversation. With every passing line, Qeldrun found that his large statue of a prisoner was not the only exceptional person on the ship’s crew. It was an excellent way of calling the bluff: the moment her man was hurt would be the moment all negotiations ended and the war would begin. She was also right to say that she did not trust the young man who called himself the Net Black Assassin. There were three points Vidé had marked as good ambush coordinates. He had already procured thirty men to be his raiding party, and three Combat Shuttles to serve as the ferries for the boarders as they made claim to the desired merchandise. With the experience of each man, the armour they had been given, and the armaments they carried, Vidé had managed to put together a very formidable force.
“But you should know, it doesn’t sound like she’s going to fall into any one of my traps,” Vidé advised. “I sent a second course suggestion. It’s the long way around, but it’s relatively safe.”
“And?”
“And there’s no way she’s just going to sit on that ship all the way into Azuria,” Vidé replied. “And given her resources at Black Gate, she won’t be coming after me.”
“She’ll be heading for NayFall,” Qeldrun concluded. “Is there any chance she can get there before me?”
Talthwynn hesitated and Qeldrun could hear it. “There’s a chance, but she’d have to be launching very soon.”
“You didn’t want to tell me that, did you?” Qeldrun asked before he closed his eyes and sharpened his concentration. “Answer me now!”
“No!” Vidé shouted in pain and frustration. He pounded his fists against his console and Qeldrun O’Zhar smiled. “I didn’t want to tell you.”
“That’s not all you don’t want me to know, is it?” Qeldrun asked. “Boy, when are you going to learn that while you were incredibly well-prepared to engage with the blue-skinned alien, you haven’t a fraction of the necessary study on me to even begin the effort! Disengage from your computer and connect with me again, using your voice. Do it now!” Qeldrun commanded as his body trembled slightly. The channel closed and he relaxed in his chair.
“What can I do, Master?” Arjhaka asked, placing her hand on his arm. “There must be some way I can assist you.”
“There is, woman,” Qeldrun answered as he
moaned. “Go to the hold and increase your hold over my catch!”
“At once, Master,” Arjhaka said as she quickly stood up from her chair.
“Lady Olyairon,” Qeldrun called to the Jeelah woman, taking hold of her wrist. “I won’t forget this.”
“When you have found your place in power, remember me then,” Arjhaka smiled before leaving the chamber. Qeldrun chuckled as a transmission was being received from the Garnet Barony.
“It would seem that I have been fortunate enough to find her price,” Qeldrun sighed as he opened the channel. “Mr. Vidé, there you are. Why don’t you tell me everything you were trying to do while you were linked to the telnet.”
The doors to the hold opened and Arjhaka looked at the statue in the middle of the room. She had half-expected to see the man somehow free himself of the petrification, waiting for the next person to enter the room. But there he stood, motionless and sealed to the metal tiles of the floor.
“Mind your step,” a voice projected to her mind. She looked down to see arcs of electricity jump from tile to tile as they made their way to the walls.
“You needn’t worry about me,” she thought as she stepped onto the tile. Electricity danced all around her, but it never touched her body. “Were this energy traveling through the air, you would have cause for concern. My guards are the Lord of Earth and the Lady of Irongem. It will never reach me.
“What are you doing?!” she asked, speaking through her mind.
“The less you know, the less you will have to lie,” the voice replied. “Get about the task you were sent to do,” the voice urged. “Do not concern yourself with me… not at the moment.”
Arjhaka put her hands to the face of the statue and tried to feel the contours through the rock. The stone should have been cold, but it was warm to the touch. “Then let us hope the moment is not long in the coming.” Arjhaka smiled slightly and focused her thoughts. Her hands dropped to the chest of the statue and she released the power necessary to put a tighter hold on the stone. Stepping back from the statue that was now larger, she received the command to sleep and her body collapsed to the floor. She could not hear the engines of the ship generating more thrust, or the sound of Qeldrun’s voice though her mind received his command to not move from where she was without his expressed permission. None of the others would be able to move either and at last Qeldrun would be afforded time to rest.
NBA had advised the Professor of the likelihood that Captain Starblazer was going to try some sort of end-around and intercept the ship. If past recorded experiences were any indication, Qeldrun stood a better chance of forgetting how to breathe than having any expectation that she would stay with the ship and follow the suggested course. Thus more speed was necessary, and as that speed increased, Qeldrun O’Zhar collapsed in his chair, pressed nearly to his limits, sleeping to recover some level of reserves that he knew he would be needing soon.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
“Cutter, I get the feeling that you took something I said the wrong way,” Persephone said as she put down her coat and gloves. “Standing up to me is one thing… getting in my way, especially now–”
“It’s because of now that I have to get in your way!” Annsura shouted. “You’re not ready to take this guy on, and you won’t listen to anyone else other than the man you’re going after.”
“And there’s a good Kot-damned reason for that, Cutter!” Persephone stressed. “He’s earned the right to–”
“And who held it together when you were abducted, Captain?!” Annsura screamed, almost on the verge of tears. “What’s happened to my attagirl-points for that?!” Persephone opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. She had heard Annsura’s whispered promise to Dungias, and she knew when it had been said before. “Damn you for the block-headed bitch you are. It’s one of your greatest strengths, JoJo, but right now it’s going to get you messed up and Z that much further away from us.”
“Interesting choice of words,” Satithe commented. “The target ship just increased in speed, and its engines are now running at optimal. A supply barge has been commissioned to rendezvous with the ship en route to make sure it does not run out of fuel.”
“Annsura–”
“I can be just as block-headed as you,” Annsura proclaimed. “You own me in experience, but you weren’t raised in the pits… so I guess it comes down to who wants it more.”
“Dangerous bet, little girl,” Persephone said softly as she bent at the knees.
“Not really,” Annsura concluded. “Even if you win, you know I’m going to land at least one good shot, maybe more… and each one’s gonna hurt and slow you down. You want to risk that, I’m ready to show you who and what I am. I know you’re not scared of me… at least not as much as I’m scared of me – that’s one of the things I love about you… but I’m not about to lose both my Captain and the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father on this. So I’ll use it all; things I swore I’d never use unless my life was on the line. I figure this applies!”
“So you have the answer, Cutter, is that it?!” Persephone barked.
“No, I don’t!” she admitted. “But this Jockey’s never seen me or anyone else on this ship plan anything! He won’t be ahead of what we might think up because he’s never seen it. And if our ideas suck–”
“Then I’ve wasted time,” Persephone shot back.
“Then you can take whatever does work and add your flavor to it!” Annsura replied. “Either way, it won’t be tried and true JoJo. It will give you an edge!”
Persephone stood there for a moment, glaring at the young woman who knew better than to relax with the heated words that had been exchanged. Annsura was ready to fight, and she had taken a stance Persephone had never seen the woman use before. The captain snorted at the possibility that it might be something that Z had taught her.
“The crew, Satithe. How many of ‘em are tuned in?”
“All of them, Captain.”
“Figures,” she muttered as she let her hands drop to her sides. She sighed as she stood up and held up her palm toward Annsura. “So, does anyone have an idea?” It was not a full second before Persephone could hear the click of the speakers indicating that someone had activated a microphone.
“Aye, Captain,” Mel said enthusiastically. “I have a plan!”
Persephone’s eyes squinted, glaring at her Cutter who nodded.
“Yeah, I told him to start putting something together before I came to talk to you,” she admitted.
Persephone laughed, recalling one of the things she liked most about Mel. She shook her head as she smiled at Annsura. “We might have to change his name to Think-Tank!” Annsura smiled just before she was floored by a lightning hook that bashed against her jaw. She moaned in pain as Persephone walked over to pick up her coat and gloves. “And I guess you’re not so block-headed after all!
“Set up your pitch, Tank, I’m on my way to you.”
An unresolved troubled past cannot lead to anything save a troubled future. Even among my people we must learn this. Bright light will never be harvested from a dark star.
Traybus Gan Pax’Dulah
(II)
(Rims Time: XII-4203.01)
It was nearing the hour most people of Three Forks would begin to take in lunch. From the constable on her hover-bike, to the thief she just saw relieve a pedestrian of their credit voucher stick, to the assassin who had arranged the incident, hoping to bait said constable into the alley where the thief now tried to make his escape, to the entity who walked among them as starlight passed overhead. None of the mortals could see it… only a few could even detect its passing and even then, the matter would be misread. It would be given much greater importance than it deserved.
“Yes, you should marry him,” Eesa could see one with the slightest depth of sensitivity giving advice to a customer. The starlight that scoured the planet looking for the Unknown Entity was not a sign of the future in and of itself. It was a sign her siblings w
ere still searching, still fearing, and in the light they were using she could feel their anger growing.
“They do not have the right to this rage,” Eesa thought as she walked. “And they have even less right to keep so many of the others in their sleep. But what can I do?! I must keep this form and shade my light so that they do not detect me!” she looked at her hand, rubbing his fingers and thumb together. “This form is so limited!”
“At the risk of insulting your intelligence,” a voice called from the traffic signal at the corner in front of her. “… I would wager you are not looking at the form, or your position, in the proper light.”
“What are you?” Eesa asked, looking up at Elbon.
“Uhm, I’m more of a who than a what,” he replied with a smile.
“You are a what, and I must press my question.”
“So far she’s everything Isse said she would be,” Elbon thought, recalling how the entity had come to him to send him on a quest. “How encouraging!
“That is a good sign,” Elbon deduced. “Not easily swayed. You had me worried for a moment.
“And speaking of moments,” Elbon said, looking down the alley where the thief and constable had run. “You’re about to blow yours. Simply put: you need an advocate, someone who can do the legwork for you; one whose awareness could be altered… by say… a near-death experience?!” Elbon shrugged as he spoke.
“Of course!” Eesa exclaimed as the assassin’s blade penetrated the back of the constable’s body armour. The poison was injected into her right kidney as the energy pulse robbed the woman of the ability to move. As her body slowly fell to the alley floor, the assassin quickly made his way to far end where a hover-car waited. “How could I have been so foolish?!”
