by Reiter
“The Chorus of the Rims is tainted!” Eesa announced. The Stars in the chamber did not take the news well and the spear-wielding individual adjusted his grip, lifting it from the floor. His eyes met with those of the Speaker of the chamber; she nodded at the silent suggestion she had received from him. Carrying the spear, the muscular form took his leave.
“Sranzhurn will see to the protection of The Territories,” Fadym-Fiera explained. “Please continue, Eesa.”
Eesa nodded before speaking. “The light within the Rims Chorus is not whole, not true, and it keeps my brethren from seeing matters clearly, keeps them from being clear! They have taken it upon themselves to keep from awakening the full Chorus – not even other Anchor Stars – and take action in their small numbers. They seek you out, Traveler, because they fear you.” Dungias’ nod came with a slight and Eesa stepped to stand even closer to him. “The boon you asked of Isse blinded more than Freund,” she advised. “And now, the Stars react to the mystery of you as many of the mortals in the Rims would react to that which they do not know, with fear and contempt. They plot to take action against you, Dungias, the moment you are returned to the Rims Space.”
“I have been able to withstand many things… engaging a Star–”
“Is something you need not do,” Eesa was quick to say. “Though I am also too weak to contend with them, I do possess the knowledge of an Anchor Star of the Rims Chorus. I feel that we will be able to aid each other in order to achieve our own personal aims. If I may share my light with you?”
“Do not fear, Dungias,” Fadym-Fiera said, walking to stand behind Dungias. “I do not know what she means to show you, rest assured my light will not allow you to pass from this realm.”
“Then proceed, Mistress Eesa,” Dungias said. Eesa closed her eyes and allowed the light of her Inner Star to shine brightly inside the chamber. Each member of the Chorus of The Territories was pleased with what the light brought forward in their minds. Eesa was, comparatively speaking, very young and weak. She was, however, quite resourceful, giving a sense of hope to her brethren.
His first time sharing knowledge in such a fashion, Dungias took longer recovering from receiving the light. He came to understand what the term ‘Anchor Star’ meant. They were the members which could be seen by the naked and untrained eye, providing light and power to the Cosmos. But there were also small slivers of darkness within the light that shone from Eesa. He wondered if the message he had received was the same that had been told to the Chorus of The Territories.
“Rest assured that it was not,” Fadym-Fiera advised. “We find no offense in the young starling keeping matters outside our realm to herself. You were not harmed, which is all that we wanted to insure. You have been informed, and I would request that you not share what she has shown you.”
“Thank you, Fadym-Fiera,” Eesa said.
“Your thanks, while accepted, is not what we sought, for you are not the only resourceful Rims Star. Sranzhurn reports that Boj awaits the Star Chaser outside The Territories. When he takes his leave, if he is able to slip past an Anchor Star, there will be questions. I would prefer to legitimately not have any answers for him when the inquiry is put forward.
“Return to your dim body now, Traveler,” Fadym-Fiera directed. “Seek out my light inside the aperture of Black Gate. I have a gift of my own that I would like to impart.”
“Then I shall do as I have been asked… by the both of you,” Dungias said, turning to look back at Eesa. “It will give me the opportunity to resolve a pressing matter. And with that, I thank thee all.” Dungias bowed to all in the chamber and turned to walk away.
His eyes opened and he was once again aboard the Kulri-Kraythe. He could hear movement aboard his scout ship and allowed his mind to take a moment. He was still slightly dizzy from the feed of information Eesa had given him, but he was also aware of the restoration Fadym-Fiera’s touch had delivered.
Rahneece led them up to the cockpit and stood to the side, ushering the three girls into chamber. The woman was a bit taken by the lack of fear exhibited by the triplets. They seemed to be more engaged in taking in everything they could see of the interior of the Kulri-Kraythe. Per Dungias’ instructions, each of them had spent a short time in the regenerator. The hair dye had been removed and Rahneece could no longer tell them apart. Three identical dark-haired, dark-eyed girls.
The triplets had only one question: was Rahneece in charge of the man who had taken them from Brattle. The young woman thought it best to shoot straight, and she shared there was only one woman in charge of the blue-skinned wonder and Rahneece was not that woman. Receiving that information, the three sisters went resumed their visual sweeps of the ship’s interior.
“Z?” Rahneece said as the first of the girls entered the cockpit. “Per your instructions, sir.”
“Thank you, Rahneece. We will be fine.”
“Aye sir,” she said before adjusting her hair clasp and taking her leave.
“What–” the closest girl started to speak but stopped when Dungias sharply lifted his hand.
“Before we begin with your questions, share my chair with me,” Dungias suggested, pointing at the last girl to enter the cockpit.
“Why me?”
“Because you are the most eager to learn piloting,” Dungias answered. “You were the one without any coloring to your hair.” All three girls responded in like fashion: surprised and elated.
“Whoa! You can tell us apart?” the girl said as she moved by her sister.
“Your bodies look similar, but your demeanors are quite different,” Dungias shared as he turned to look at the one standing closest to the helm. “You are the explorer. The one that the others have to sit on to keep you from going places you’ve never seen or opening doors with no idea of what is on the other side. “You are the one who had green-colored hair and you are most eager to take the seat of the navigator. The ships systems are monitored from there, as well as the information gathered by the ship’s sensors.
“And me?” asked the young girl who was the most pleased to be rid of the hair dye.
“You hair was dyed purple and of the three you are the most relieved to be rid of the coloring. You can share the navigator chair, but sit on the right side. The computer is on the far right side of the console.” Dungias waited as the children took their positions. He put his hands on top of the girl’s and guided them over the console so she could feel the controls.
“Why do we not begin with what you would like to be called. My name is Z’Gunok Tel Dungias, but I am called Z.”
“Do we really need names?” the piloting girl asked as she took the ship into a tight right turn.
“It would make for a more expedient social exchange,” Dungias advised. “If all three of you are answering to ‘hey you’ all the time, you will not be able to get much done without distraction.”
“He has a good point. Do you have any suggestions?”
“This is the beginning of your freedom, girls,” Dungias said. “It is the first of many decisions you will need to make for yourselves.”
“Before we do that, tell us why you came to get us,” the computer-enthused girl requested.
“A simple enough request,” Dungias replied. “Place your hands on the consoles, please.” Once all three girls did as they were told, Dungias directed Alpha to deliver a prepared package to their minds. In it, he detailed what he had come to the Rims to do: to save humanity; and how he felt that the lives for which he was fighting should be allowed to enter into the effort.
“Do you know who the enemy is?” the navigator asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Dungias answered plainly.
“How would we help?” the pilot asked.
“To put it plainly, I do not know how long I have before there is a major engagement, nor am I assured I will be alive to see the end of this affair. If you decide to come with me, I will have you trained… in hopes that you will find your own place in this struggle.”
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nbsp; “And if we don’t come with you,” the one stationed at the navigator console stated, turning to look at Dungias, “… you’ll set us up with some sort of foster parents where we can live happily ever after and watch as you fight for our lives?! That doesn’t even sound sensible!”
“I will not force anyone to join me,” Dungias stated confidently.
“Why not?! Either we join you, join the enemy, or accept the fact that our fates will be decided by the winner.”
“She’s got a point,” the pilot added.
“Very well. That is something to consider. Still, some measure of delineation will be required,” Dungias sighed, reminding himself of what he had read in the data files about the girls.
During the time the Star Chaser tried to familiarize himself with the Rims, he had come across the symbol on only two occasions, neither of any great significance. The merged F and K inside a near-encompassing C was the logo of the Fuji-Karro Corporation. It was a multi-system Middle Rim company known for their groundbreaking work in genetics and their numerous contracts with the Ardrians. The source material regarding the girls had been destroyed hours after they had been reported as stolen. As a matter of interest, CK had gathered what data he could on the triplets. They were the product of the first successful pairing of a synthetic human sperm and a synthetic egg. Genetically engineered to be the paragons of the limits of human development, it was presumed that the children were perfect. The circumstances of their disappearance were unclear. The facility where the children had been born was destroyed in an explosion claiming thirty-five hundred square miles of the urban development where the lab had been seeded.
For thirty-one months, the girls had been kept in stasis and smuggled about through black market channels. How they came to be at Black Gate was still a mystery, but CK had found DNA evidence that they had been living in the Bowels of the super-station.
As the engines powered up for maximum acceleration, Dungias received a notification from CK. Jocasta had sent a data-pack, but CK’s counterpart aboard ship had added a file regarding the presence of a captured spy on board. CK had already accessed his network inside Black Gate and found two places where the real Culshee, if she were still alive, might be found.
“CK, this file shows that Jocasta just sent this log today,” Dungias thought, using Alpha to direct his thoughts.
“You’d be surprised what we can do when you bridge with the Stars,” CK replied.
“Not any longer, I wouldn’t be,” Dungias thought. “Kindly notify Governor Gundryss of the situation. Ask him to engage in a stealth-based rescue operation. If Culshee is indeed still alive, direct the Governor to where she can be delivered.”
“I’ll make the necessary arrangement,” CK noted.
A grin formed on Dungias’ face as he reviewed what Jocasta had sent. Using Alpha, Dungias reviewed all the files in seconds. He made a response and arranged for it to be sent back to Jocasta in two days.
“Darthi,” the navigator said aloud before looking to her sister that shared her chair.
“Tadreene,” she said with a smile and the two looked over to the one sitting in Dungias’ lap.
“Z’Gara,” she stated before turning to look up into Dungias eyes. The Malgovi could not keep from showing how he had been touched that they had chosen names from his initials, and he knew better than to think it was a coincidence.
“So be it,” he said softly. “Your family name will be Xaraman and I will explain that to you later.
“We need to be on our way,” Dungias announced. “You have training to begin, and I have matters to which I must attend.” Dungias re-initiated the laid-in course and got out of the chair, making sure to be careful with Z’Gara.
“Where are we going?” Darthi asked as she looked at the course route.
“Through a portal which will take us out of this dimension,” Dungias said as the rocket launched from the side of the ship. It exploded just in front of the Kulri-Kraythe and the girls were treated to a view of the making of a dimensional breach. “We are going to the InterVoid, the Realm Astral.
“No holding back indeed, Captain!” he thought.
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought.
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
(V)
(Rims Time: XII-4203.09)
Abhorrent! It was the only word that came to his mind to describe this place. Austin used his walking stick to push aside the overgrown foliage that had been claimed by a form of life given to the generation of resin. While it was not the markings of a giant spider, the pitch-covered vines acted very much like a web, though the creature that had deposited the material did not need to be as expeditious as an arachnid. The resin contained agents that fed on the skin of whatever came into contact with it, growing around said body and covering it with even more resin. If that was not detestable enough, the material was the antithesis of aromatic!
“I realize there is a balance to the universe,” the Legerian thought, looking around for a sign of why he had come to this place. Some three hundred meters in the distance he could see a flashing light. “… but I must see the paradise that made the creation of this place necessary!
“Oh, bother!” Austin said as he slowly blinked his eyes. A cylinder of white-hot flame shot forward from the front of his body, cutting through the vines, creating a cleared path for him to use. “There, much the better.” Austin smiled as he walked forward toward the flashing light. Two hundred and thirty meters down the path, he could see that the light belonged to a most familiar ship. It tickled him that the creator and pilot of the craft had yet to master the art of landing his vessel. Austin had not bothered to keep a running count as to how many times he had found the ship as askew as its captain and sole passenger.
“Your parents might have named you after Chuck Yeager, my friend, but–” Austin started as he waved his walking stick toward the ship. The entry door opened, but only so far before it stopped and closed. “Chuck, my boy!” The engines then fired alive, churning up significant gushing winds. Another wave of his walking stick and the debris passed around Austin’s body. “How positively rude!
“And suddenly, I cannot detect my own ship,” he thought.
“You shouldn’t hold him accountable,” Xaythra said as she came walking around the nose of the craft.
“And that would be the reason,” he concluded. “Goddesses, they grow up so fast!”
She looked at the small ship and made a gesture with her left hand. The craft was suddenly thirty meters off the ground and starting to fly away. His radio clicked as it received a transmission from the departing ship.
“Austin, I’m sorry!” Chuck radioed. He sounded frightened and exhausted. Austin closed his eyes, feeling the strain the minor entity had been put through to be the bait for this trap. “She found me when I was with the family. I was trapped!”
“Think nothing of it, my friend,” Austin said calmly as the engines fired brighter. “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”
“An effort to making poetic last words?” Xaythra asked.
“Not at all,” Austin replied, calmly. “But getting back to the sentiment, Steinbeck has always held a certain bite for me, though I think I prefer Vonnegut’s offering: Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, ‘It might have been.’ Yes, that brings the proper punch to it, don’t you think?”
“I think that there will be few things in my existence that I shall enjoy more than what I am about to do to you,” Xaythra stated.
“I’m sure,” Austin smiled, poking the ground with his walking stick. “You’re getting good at this sort of thing! Kudos to you, my dear. This was absolutely diabolical! When I think of what you had to do in order to find Chuck... what can I say, it boggles the mind! But shouldn’t you be about the business of getting your army together for the coming contest?” Austin inquired, surprising Xaythra to the point of her body visibly shaking in response to the question.
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“How do you know about that?!” Xaythra asked.
“My dear, I am the Legerian,” he smiled, “a collector by life and trade. One of the many things I collect just so happens to be… information. You have a very powerful stroke to your abilities, but you are underestimating the blind one. Trust me, my dear, you seldom get a chance to do that twice.”
“You will tell me how it is you know of these things,” Xaythra demanded.
“Now that would serve to be a most unforgivable last-word testament,” Austin countered, examining his nails. Xaythra breathed out through her gritted teeth. “So instead, allow me to pontificate the following–”
“Just stop! Please!” Xaythra shouted as she began to pace. She wanted desperately to destroy Austin and then find the means by which to deal with his constant companion Virgil. However, there was no mistaking the possible advantage the Legerian would bring in the contest with Death and Freund. Xaythra was eager to find the means through which she might earn a reprieve from Antavida.
“Welcome to immortality,” Austin announced with all the fanfare available to him at the moment. “All this incredible power at your disposal, and yet you’re shackled by what you consider to be an inferior being. And I am immortalized for having put you into this position. Yes, that is a fitting passage through which I may expire gracefully.” Austin held his hands out from the sides of his body and let his head fall back as he closed his eyes. “Very well, I am ready! Grim Reaper, old friend…” Austin’s head came up and he put his eyes on Xaythra. “Did you know that the Reaper was once a lover of Death?” He looked away, smiling as he reflected. “I remember when they met and introduced death to life. Hmmm, those crazy kids!”
“Enough!” Xaythra yelled as she stopped pacing. “We shall strike a bargain.”
“What bargain?”
