StarFlight: The Prism Baronies (Beyond the Outer Rim Book 2)

by Reiter

  “Wow! Yeah, you guys really had me going, what with the ‘not adding to anyone’s roster’ bit.”

  “Well, that part was accurate,” Kryltane replied. “We’ve got the room and we’ve got the tools… I don’t see why you don’t head up your own robotics lab and suit forge. You’ve had some infantry training. Llaz will be working with you on improving your scores and getting engaged in a scenario, but other than that, I think you should get to work as soon as possible. We could use some extra attention put to the suits around here.”

  “Seriously?!”

  “Trust him on one thing,” Amos said, clapping his hand down on Hansel’s shoulder. “When it comes to getting work done, there’s no such thing as a sense of humor!”

  “Three fours and three sixes,” Bantar said, slamming the mouth of the cup down on the table. He lifted the cup to see exactly what he had called.

  “Now look in the mirror,” Xaedra directed. Looking up above the table where he sat, Bantar lost his smile, seeing exactly the same thing he had called, but the placement of the dice had changed; all the fours were on one side and the sixes were on the other. When he looked back down at the table, the dice were in a straight line from left to right with the odd dice as six and the even numbered die were four.

  “That is amazing!” Bantar laughed, picking up the die to the far left. He closed his eyes and ran his finger over the face he had been looking at. He felt only one depression and opened his eyes to see seven. “Fantastic! How are you doing that?”

  “You already know,” Xaedra said with a smile as she approached the table carrying a tray. She set it down on the table and poured Bantar a cup of tea.

  “Xaedra, how many times do I have to tell you, you don’t have to do that.”

  “I like fetching and serving your tea,” she argued. “And you’re stalling. Answer the question.” Bantar’s eyes did not move, but it was clear he was thinking. He ran his finger over the face once again.

  “I feel that it’s a one,” Bantar stated. “… but when I look at it, I see seven dots, which no six-sided die ever holds.”

  “And what does that tell you?” Xaedra asked. “Look at the die again as you consider your response.”

  Bantar looked again, but the dots on the face of the die were now moving. Closing his eyes, the young man focused his mind, extending his feelings through his mind. Though he could feel ThoughtWill in his mind which he had not generated, there was no sign of telepathy.

  “What you’re doing, it isn’t telepathic,” he concluded. “It isn’t mind to mind… but it is mind to brain! You’re manipulating the signals sent through my optic nerve!”

  “That is the difference between the way your people approach the manipulation, and the way the DerFae do it,” Xaedra explained. “We do not believe in invisibility. We do believe in tricking the mind into thinking it does not see what is present. This is still a minor skill when engaging with FantasioR. Many races acknowledge the Energy, but Terrans, and even the Olasson, place their focus in the dead version of the power.”

  “The dead version?!” Bantar repeated. “Suggesting there is a live version!”

  “Of course there is,” Xaedra said, stroking the back of his neck. “All the Energies have living expressions! Why should FantasioR be any different?”

  “I was only aware that MajiK had approached that evolution.”

  “Approached?! No, that could not be further from the truth!” Xaedra said, turning Bantar around to look at her. “That is all the universe is, Bantar: life! From the moment the stars were born, giving birth to cosmic forces, everything has been a stage of one kind of life or another. The moment you find the living FantasioR, you will be able to further your studies.

  “And she waits for you, young Bantar,” Xaedra said softly.

  “What? She what?”

  “She knows you are seeking the means to wield her light, and she is waiting for you.” A soft, warm yellowish light shone from behind Xaedra as her head tilted and her eyes closed. Gossamer wings formed on her back and immediately began to move quickly, creating a soft buzzing sound. “And if you like… I can arrange an introduction.”

  “You can?” Bantar asked, standing up as he gawked at how the Faebred Human flew. “Why would you do that?”

  “Are we not friends, Bantar?”

  “We just met a couple of days ago, Xaedra,” he replied. “I mean, I like you. I like you a lot! And it’s been great spending time with you, getting to know you.”

  “Your body does not possess one dishonest bone, does it?” she asked, smiling more brightly. “That is the light I am responding to. Your attraction is met with mine, but that is not why I am making you this offer.”

  “And I didn’t roll six ones, did I?” Bantar asked, already fearing the truth.

  “It appeared to me that you did,” she chuckled. “You’re going to need the time your winning wager collected, Bantar. The meeting will not be brief, not to this realm. And if we start now, we may finish before we reach the Pearl Barony. If you wish to make it up to Siekor then, that will be your option.”

  “You don’t like him, do you?”

  “Nor trust him, and he is not the only one,” Xaedra quickly replied. “But I trust you. Take my hands and let us leave this place. I promise I will bring you back.”

  “Tuitonn?” Bantar said, looking back the floating orb. Xaedra gasped in shock, having forgotten he was even still in the room. “What should I do?”

  “What you feel yourself led to do, young man,” he answered as he lowered himself toward the floor. “The DerFae speaks of a level of power that is beyond my experience regarding FantasioR. But that is not why I am moved to answer you directly. You’re not asking me to clarify any specific matter… you pose the question so that you can more easily contend with your fears! We agreed–”

  “That would never be your place,” Bantar sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. It just…”

  “Seems to be so much,” Tuitonn finished. “And you wonder if Bantar is worthy of this power... or any power for that matter. I am not sure if this perspective will be too helpful, but it is a consideration. Your humility is a strong virtue and it should never be relinquished. It should, however, be matched stride-for-stride by the affirmation of who and what you are… Spectre.”

  Inside the mind of the young collegiate student, the words of Tuitonn found a recess that was normally walled off from Bantar’s thought processes; a place where he dreamt of all the things he could come to be. Much had happened within that recess since the time Bantar had told himself such thoughts would not serve him. Looking to his Captain and her First Mate as examples, the Vohlterran Freeman dared to be worthy of their faith and efforts. He smiled at Tuitonn before turning to Xaedra, holding out his hands. She flew by him, taking hold of the left hand, and in a bright flash of MannA, they were gone.

  “And it seems my work here is done,” Tuitonn said as he floated toward the door. “One can only hope there are no further delays!”

  Jocasta’s eyes squinted as she looked at the destination clock. “Reaching one-third the distance to Pearl,” she thought, reaching for the throttle. She fired reverse thrusters, bringing the ship to a near-stop. “I need to change up… think a bit more before I act. It’s easy to shoot from the hip when Z’s got your back-up and there’s only the two of you. What’s the worst that can happen? Getting a lecture while we count the haul?!

  “I’ve got a crew now… not to mention some pretty high-end stolen treats that’s sure to be all over the Grid right now… the wrong kind of telnet, too. Haggenshire’s going to keep a lid on everything for as long as he can, spending out the side of his ass to get his stuff back before his customers and backers are any the wiser.” Instead of changing consoles, Jocasta used her brace-com to have her computer take inventory of what was being transmitted through the relay stations. It was slower going without Satithe, but Dungias had long-since taught the woman how to read inside waves, finding the secret coding, the hushed
messages of the telnet. A slow rise of her brow was the result of her initial search. “He does know there is a storage limit to these, doesn’t he? Kot on a stick, a blind man could see this stuff.

  “Which means he wants it to be seen,” Jocasta whispered, activating the intercom. “Shotgun, are you busy?”

  “Never too busy for you, Captain,” Kryltane responded quickly, securing the open channel to where it was only he and Jocasta on the line. “Did you read my report?”

  “If it’s about Hansel, don’t bother. He used the Tane Technique as far as I’m concerned. He wants in, he’s in!

  “Listen, I just ran a wave-reader,” Jocasta said, checking her sensors again. She activated long-range sensors and concentrated them on the area of space where the Haggenshire Platform should have been. “Can you tell if I tripped anything?” Sitting back in her chair, Jocasta put her elbows on the arm rests of her chair and made a fist, cracking her knuckles.

  “Yeah, you sure did,” Kryltane advised. “We’ve got several active seekers in the virtual database. And boy, are they fast-movers. They’re going to figure out they’re not in a real system in a few seconds!” A tell-tale beep came from the sensors console. Long-range sensors picked up the launch of three ships from the Haggenshire; two gunships and a battle-cruiser. None of the three ships were running at regulation speeds, and they were all accelerating.

  “Someone’s burning the midnight and mid-day oil too,” Jocasta thought, kicking in the drivers and changing course. “Happens when you hit a target with big pockets: other big pockets come to try and save his fat ass! The rich and powerful will protect first the rich and powerful. Class warfare at its best. Well, Mr. Haggenshire is suddenly less wealthy, and after we read the rest of his holdings, I get the feeling he won’t be invited to the big parties anymore. He’ll have to turn that platform into an amusement park or something.

  “Any tracking capabilities on those seekers?” she asked.

  “Major tracking!” Kryltane informed. “Nothing that’s getting out of the holding chamber where the database is, but they will know where the seekers were when they jumped off the line.”

  “As good a point as any to start a search,” Jocasta concluded. “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m really missing Middle Rim Maggots right about now. Keep forgetting this is a controlled territory governed mostly by who has the biggest kill stroke.”

  “Captain, there’s something else. We have to go to full stealth right now!”

  “Roger that,” Jocasta said, quickly getting up out of her chair. She reached the manual controls and pushed the lever all the way forward. Lights on the Bridge dimmed for a moment and she received the warning that the ship was now losing power as the drives were lowered to the point that Full Stealth Mode could be maintained. The power usage warning came seconds before proximity alarms sounded. Jocasta moved quickly back to the helm and activated all consoles.

  “Give me optics and a full sensor read.”

  “Unable to initiate given instruct–”

  “Lower the god-damned sensor intensity to acceptable levels and give me a sector read!” Jocasta barked, cursing the fact that the operating system of the ship would have known what she meant and the sensors would have been adjusted. Her main screen picked up an image. Three soft white-light portals had opened, and were beginning to close, but not before a total of thirty-six fighters had flown through and into the sector. Jocasta took a reading of the signature of the shutter portals. “And sound the general alarm,” Jocasta said softly. “Son of a bitch, these are some impressive deep-pockets.

  “I need Tolip and Boss on the Bridge,” Jocasta commanded. “Shotgun, where are you on the read of our last haul?”

  “We uh… we just got done counting the credits!” Kryltane yelled. He had moved well away from his console and the microphone therein.

  “Use your brace-com, genius,” Jocasta suggested with a grin forming on her face. She could feel an old familiar friend making the rounds.

  The edge! It was the place where people found themselves after doing bad deeds when it appeared that they just might have to answer for them. That was Jocasta Endigun’s backyard, but her crew was still relatively young and inexperienced. There was a chance they would jump skittish. The first time she had been pushed to this point, she had responded in such a way that Scimitar took notice of her. He had started training her, putting in the effort to make it so that when she next would attack a point of fear, instead of running from it, she might hit what she was aiming at and do some good!

  Taking her seat, Jocasta spoke in a calm and even tone, trying to reach through the line and put a gentle hand on the side of Kryltane’s face. “Tane, take a breath before you say a word. Just breathe.

  “It’s okay to feel fear. Means you’re wired right. But stow it away in your belly and save me again, just like you at the Stick & Rudder!” She could hear him breathing and there was no shaking in the exhaling as there had been when he took in the air. “Talk to me, Shotgun.”

  “Hard currency counted and yes, it was a sacrilegious amount,” Kryltane reported. “The gem count and categorization is going slower due to the need to appraise each stone. All in all, we’re maybe one-third into the first vault.”

  “Gods, curse me for being too good,” Jocasta muttered, licking her lips. She looked at the fighters and smiled. She had seen the red and black striping before, and the five black skulls on the tail wings cinched it for her. “Well, hello Field Marshal! Are you looking for the one who stomped your assault team and then bitch-slapped your base?

  “And that reminds me,” Jocasta muttered, bringing up a map on her brace-com as the doors opened, allowing Llaz a running entry. The doors started to close but then reopened to allow Silnee to enter. Jocasta smiled at the map and quickly got up out of her chair, motioning for Silnee to take the helm. She approached Llaz and touched the fingertips of her left hand to his chest.

  “There’s a time to enforce the protocols you’re given, and then there’s a time to just follow orders,” Jocasta said.

  “You’re leaving the ship and you want to go solo,” Llaz concluded. Jocasta kissed the man full on the mouth.

  “Don’t you dare change unless it’s to get better!,” she said. “Take the ship back to the Onyx Barony and hide out in the shadow of that dead moon. If you don’t hear from me in three days, take the ship back to Black Gate.”

  “Captain!” Llaz started. Jocasta’s fingertips touched softly on his lips.

  “I’m trusting you with my ship, Boss,” she said softly. “Don’t you dare let me down!”

  “We’ve got incoming!” Silnee reported. “Eighty-seven, mark, two point five degrees!”

  “Alter course to two, seven, zero, mark, zero,” Llaz commanded, softly taking hold of Jocasta’s shoulder and moving her slightly aside. “Okay, we’ve got power signatures and bogeys galore. Power up the emitter relays, configure half to cancel that scanned aperture energy signature and half ready to emit lancinators. Do not erect shields without my command.” There was a brief moment of silence as the fighter passed within fifty meters of the Xara-Mansura and Silnee started to speak when Llaz had further orders to give. “Cancel the general alarm and sound battle-stations!” Lights flashed and alarms sounded three loud blasts rousing everyone from their duties and pastimes. “Siekor, I need you and Feldspar on the Bridge. Tolip, as soon as Siekor gets here, you’re to report to the launch deck.” Llaz stopped to turn and look at a very amazed Captain. “You’d be surprised at what Z has us drilling.”

  “Only if I were stupid enough to put a cap on how he thinks!” Jocasta smiled. “Boss, the ship is yours!” Jocasta turned and started running.

  “Okay, is it supposed to feel like this?” she thought, rubbing her stomach. She knew she was not that hungry, but she did not know how else to describe the emptiness she suddenly felt. Jocasta started running. She needed to get to her Ready Room and suit up for her departure. “All of this over a gigantic glow-in-the-dark m
arble!

  “Shotgun, the virtual database that caught those trackers, can you jack that into a portable device?”

  “Can and will, Captain. Where do you want it?”

  “Meet me at Daedalus!” she commanded before opening another channel. “Roc, anything you can whip up into a go-package in the next three minutes would be greatly appreciated.”

  Llaz took a seat at the console next to Silnee and reviewed the data logs. “We’re in the Kot, aren’t we?” she asked.

  “Don’t act like this is your first time in a smelly place,” Llaz said calmly, without looking up from his screens. “We steal Kot! We’d be the worst of fools to think that the scent would never get on us!” He acknowledged a status that had been sent to his brace-com. “Pre-flight for Daedalus reads clean and green, decreasing power in section to energize capacitors in the launch tunnel.”

  “An assisted launch will be detected, Llaz.”

  “Good. Both you and the computer have advised me of that,” he replied as Feldspar reached the Bridge. Llaz quickly got up from his seat and directed Feldspar to take his place. “But, if you recall, the ship is mine. Appreciate the input, but right about now, being detected actually works to our advantage.”

  Nielsen was in place and ready to receive orders when Siekor entered the room. Llaz glanced at his brace-com and Siekor winced at his tardiness. Silnee gave up her chair and ran off the Bridge, opening a channel to her team.

  “Pinion, give me a status!”

  “Cruel Intentions ready to fly, Flight Commander” Agatha reported.

  “Trident is clean and green, Flight,” Bruveia advised.

  “Feather has been prepped and she’s first on the ready-deck,” Deolun stated, sounding as if he was climbing into his seat. “All ships are maxed out on weapons load. Intentions is heavy one bomb and two booster packs. Feather is heavy two batteries linked directly to her guns.