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

by Reiter

  Uhnveer paced for a moment, muttering to himself. It was clear he was enraged and utterly frustrated. Twice now he had been hit and hit hard. Though there was no evidence that one culprit was responsible for the deeds done, instinct told the strategist that was exactly the case. He looked around the corridor, the floor and the ceiling, stopping on the young officer.

  “You think you’re smarter than me, don’t you?” Uhnveer asked.

  “No sir!” the young man quickly barked his response.

  “Sure you do,” Uhnveer nodded. “You know what happened to the last Com-Off who brought me bad news, and you thought you could circumvent it. So you get me out of the room where I am entertaining a guest to cut me off from using that as an excuse to pulverize you. That’s what happened to your predecessor. You have to be aware of that.”

  “I am aware, sir. I live to serve the Field Marshal.”

  “Do you now?”

  “Yes sir!”

  “You volunteer to join my ranks?”

  “Negative sir,” the officer replied. “I was recompense for credits owed to you by my father and brother.”

  “How many credits?”

  “One hundred and fifty thousand, sir!”

  “And how long have you been in my service?”

  “Three years, sir!”

  “That would put you at the midway point, wouldn’t it?”

  “No sir!” the young man replied. “There were additional charges for my uniform, my medical file and my equipment. “I have five years yet, sir.”

  “Guard!” Uhnveer called out. “Let’s see how you do serving them out in the arenas!”

  “You called, Field Marshal?” two guards had answered his summons and both were among his better trained personnel.

  “I will not require an escort, sir,” the young officer stated. “If it is your wish for me to report to the arenas, that is what I will do!”

  “A smart man with integrity!” Uhnveer stated. “Fine, after you send a top-priority message back to Crystal Pointe. It’s time to replenish our numbers. Have all ship commanders scour The Territories for candidates and report back to the Pointe as soon as possible. Then you can report to the arenas for training.”

  “Aye sir!” the officer said before he saluted, turned on his heels, and started back to the Command Deck to send out word of the Field Marshal’s orders. The first few strides he took away from the man, the young officer had his eyes closed, failing in his attempt to come away from the exchange unscathed. But he was still alive, and he smiled at the thought that he had won the betting pool.

  Uhnveer watched the young man walk away. His gait was no different than when he had first approached to deliver the news. “Survive the arenas, boy,” he thought. “Show me that your body matches your spirit and we will make something out of you just yet!” He motioned to the guard who had spoken, beckoning him to step closer.

  “Get word to Letron. Tell him to name his price, but he needs to find me answers. Give him the coordinates of where the McKendrick was lost. He can begin his search there.”

  “Aye sir,” the guard replied. “You have an incoming transmission, sir.”

  “Source?”

  “Master Handrotineer.” Uhnveer looked at the guard, sighed in disgust and nodded.

  “I will take it in my quarters.

  “Apparently I’m not too old to be caught between a rock and a hard place,” Uhnveer thought as he walked.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  “Okay… this is different,” Jocasta thought, looking at the rock formations all around her. The Daedalus was streaking through a tunnel of some sort, when Jocasta had expected the same starless space she had seen the last time she was in the slipstream. “Hey, Jo, do you think that might be why this section is uncharted?” she chastised herself.

  “That is a perfectly acceptable hypothesis,” Tuitonn replied, causing Jocasta to jump in her seat.

  “Tuitonn!” she screamed. “I swear you’re one trigger-nudge from being a glassy doughnut!”

  “On your left, Captain,” Tuitonn warned.

  “I know what the hell is ahead and on my left, you little shit!” Jocasta barked, looking at the ThoughtWill orb as she pulled the stick slightly to the right and back to make her ship tilt and climb over a small mound of rock. The sparkling fighter-craft leveled out with a fairly clear horizon in front of it. “Didn’t I give an order that I was taking this one solo?”

  “Did she just pilot this craft without looking?!” Tuitonn thought.

  “You did, Captain, but that was an order I could not follow… according to the instructions of the First Mate.”

  Jocasta sighed in frustration as proximity alarms sounded from her console. She faced forward and she could see that the three fighter-craft were closing in on her position. “We’ve still got company. And when are you people going to get it through your heads that I outrank him?!”

  “That was never in question,” Tuitonn replied as he started to glow, accessing the controls of the rear seat, namely weapons and defenses. “In fact, I fully expect to be punished upon our return. However, I would rather have you punish me than fall short of my purpose as a member of this crew.”

  “They’re powering weapons,” Jocasta said softly, easing the throttle up on her fighter. “And just what the hell do you see as your purpose, Tuitonn?!”

  “The same purpose as I had when you found me,” he replied, “… to be a guardian. Only now, I have a greater treasure to protect.”

  “You think flattery will get you out of this?”

  “You misunderstand me, Captain,” Tuitonn returned. “I did not mean to flatter. I meant to inform. I have had many masters; each one was preoccupied with the acquisition of power or knowledge. You seek only freedom… and the adventure of the occasional procurement of materials which do not belong to you.” Jocasta snickered as a laser bolt missed over the top of her fighter.

  “You just have to love the man-style of thinking,” Jocasta whispered as she pulled on the stick. She piloted her fighter around a column of solid rock. The size of the tunnel had changed dramatically and suddenly there was little room between the floor and the ceiling. The changes, however, had not moved her pursuers to keep from firing, forcing JoJo to maintain break-neck speeds. “Have gun, will shoot!”

  “It does seem to be a common shortcoming of the male of the species,” Tuitonn remarked.

  “Don’t get it twisted; I know some quick-triggered bitches that give men a run for their money.

  “Whoa, major dip!” Jocasta shouted, inverting her ship as she flew over the lip of the rocky floor into a very deep, but incredibly slender shaft. She pulled back on the stick to bring the nose around and fired her lift thrusters to keep from smacking into the far wall. She could hear an explosion behind her as she activated scanning lasers. She was able to confirm one of her pursuers failed to negotiate the obstacle.

  “Well done, Captain!” Tuitonn was nearly cheering.

  “Thanks, Tuitonn,” Jocasta said as she relaxed. “Sooo many changes have to be made to that map! ‘Cuz I do not recall that in the brochure! The other two must have come to a full stop. Here’s our chance to put some distance between us… so long as this baby doesn’t dead end on us. The Field Marshal’s mappers must not like him much!

  “And damn if this baby did not respond instantly,” Jocasta thought as she came to another tunnel. “He almost made the turn for me!” She leveled Daedalus off along the lines of the gravity pull she could feel and throttled up for even more speed.

  “Interesting,” Tuitonn monitored. “She said ‘us’ and ‘our’. No, she is not like any other master I have had… and it seems the least striking difference is that she is not a practitioner of wielding any of the Energies.

  “But I think we should get back to your earlier observation,” Tuitonn suggested. “… about why this region is uncharted.”

  “We need to have that conversation right now?!” she shouted before she felt something on
the back of her neck. She was getting an itch again. “Oh hell!”

  The alarm sounded once; her sensors had picked up a fast-moving object coming from her starboard side. Jocasta did not have sight of the object when she pulled and rolled the stick. A black form flew by her ship, just missing the starboard engine port and Jocasta could hear some sort of shrieking noise as it was dodged.

  “It’s coming around for another swipe,” Tuitonn warned.

  “Hope he brought his tanning lotion!” Jocasta said through gritted teeth. Creating a gravity lock with the ground, and firing her braking thrusters, she brought her ship to an abrupt halt. She then quickly set the power of the anchor to its maximum setting as she pushed for full forward thrust. The black-skinned body was caught in the fire from Daedalus’ engines and hurled back and up into the ceiling.

  “Incredible!” Tuitonn commented as he manipulated the sensors of the fighter-craft. “He was definitely affected by the thrust of the engines, but I am not detecting any signs of burning or scarring!”

  “So, he did bring his tanning lotion!” Jocasta said as she disengaged the gravity anchor. “I take it this is what you were getting around to saying as to why this region is uncharted?”

  “It would appear to be the very reason, Captain,” Tuitonn replied. “I felt their minds when–”

  “Their mindsss,” Jocasta barked as she banked around column. “Just how many are we talking about here?!”

  “Oh… all of them!” Tuitonn answered. “Take that left!”

  Jocasta did not question the directive she had been given and took the Daedalus into a very tight turn to her port side where there was a small tunnel in the cave wall. “Folding wings forward,” she said as she pulled the small lever that brought the wings forward. She could feel the speed of the ship decrease, and she noticed how the craft seemed more responsive to the slightest movement of the stick.

  “You beautiful, blue-skinned bitch!” Jocasta thought as an even smile spread wide across her face. “For the record, Z, I love you!”

  “These are their caves, Captain,” Tuitonn stated. “I doubt we can outrun or out maneuver them for long.”

  “But?”

  “But the layout of these caves was in the mind of the one you just dodged,” Tuitonn said as he accessed the navigational computer. “I am uploading that layout to your nav-com. I believe the flashing dot is where you will find the Tween-Space you’re seeking.”

  “Bingo,” Jocasta whispered as the tunnel started to grow tighter. “X marks the spot!”

  “And I can feel more of them approaching,” Tuitonn advised. “Their intentions are anything but hospitable.”

  “We could very well be flying through their nursery, mind-ball,” Jocasta offered. “… and just so’s you knows… I don’t have to out-fly these little beasties. I just have to out fly those two idiots still on my tail! Hold on to your ass!” Jocasta took her ship into a barrel-roll that led into a dive into another tunnel. Her smiling face slowly became a visage of concentration and incredible awareness. “No offense, Tuitonn, but shut up until I say otherwise…

  “Momma’s got work to do,” she whispered as she flexed her fingers to take tighter grips of the controls. “Time to go into the flow!” Jocasta pushed her engines for three-quarters their maximum output. The howl of the machinery achieved both objectives Jocasta had in mind: move the Daedalus along faster, and alert the creatures of the caves to her position. Impact alarms sounded as the tunnel grew tighter. They sounded for nearly two seconds before Jocasta deactivated their audio component. She activated her nose cannon and set it for a single discharge per pull of the trigger. The tips of her forward folded wings took on a slight blue glow as they were prepared to emit gravity fields to assist with the turning of the craft. In effect, they would create rails along which the runaway train called Daedalus would ride.

  Protruding rock formations, unexpected columns of solid rock, and the fact that the tunnel itself was not engineered for machine flight all made their attempts to be stumbling blocks for the course Jocasta had decided to take; different from the one that Tuitonn had uploaded to her screen. She could hear weapons fire, explosions, and animal cries in the distance. After the explosions, however, the sound of the guns was lost and all she was left with was the cry of the bodies that were now hounding her ship.

  “These crapstacks are fast!” she thought as she took half a heartbeat to look at her sensor screen. She was not yet at seventy-five percent output, but these creatures were closing the gap. “Might have to come out of atmospheric mode.

  “Only one-third the way and they’re closing too fast for me to–

  “Son-of-a-bitch!” Jocasta yelled, pushing forward on the stick, pulling back hard and stirring the controls as she manipulated the pedal controls. The Daedalus flew under a shelf, climbed over a jagged mound and then barrel-rolled to knife-fly a slender gap. The ship was rocked slightly as the shields along the belly of the fighter-craft sparked against the solid rock wall. Jocasta leveled off her ship and turned down yet another tunnel, the fourth of a five-way split.

  “How did she know that was the only one large enough for this ship?!” Tuitonn thought, wishing that he had hands to grasp the arm rests of the chair. His telekinesis would have to suffice, but before he could augment the strength of that field, the ThoughtWill orb felt something… something quite unexpected.

  “Captain,” Tuitonn called to her.

  “Tuitonn, I said shut up!”

  “Jocasta Elise Endigun!” Tuitonn shouted in a voice of authority he had not known he possessed. It was much more powerful than the one he had used the day he had met his current master; intimidating himself in the same measure. “Stop this craft at once!”

  “What? How? Somebody slap- how the hell do you know that name?” Jocasta barked as the reverse thrusters fired. As Daedalus slowed, Jocasta folded her helmet. “And tell me before these things start ripping into my ship!”

  “Ripping into your ship is not what they now have in mind,” Tuitonn advised. “In fact, they wish to speak to you. Their queen is en route and will be here shortly.”

  “Talk about what?!” Jocasta gasped as she hand-combed her hair.

  Tuitonn was glad he did not possess a body. It would have been impossible to keep from giggling at the woman. There were few things JoJo Starblazer truly respected. The flight capability of these creatures; their ability to make her push herself… yes, they had earned a pinnacle of respect given to very, very few! To have that pinnacle maneuver itself to where it was on equal standing humbled the pirate, and Tuitonn knew he was about to witness a very rare event: the genuine humility of his latest master.

  “It would appear that while they live in caves, these creatures are quite intelligent and have been here since the time when The Territories were formed. They have seen untold numbers of bad pilots, a few good pilots, one or two legendary pilots, and they have just witnessed you. They doubt you harbor any ill-will to their kind, and their queen would like you to know the feeling is mutual.”

  “Tuitonn, what did you do?!”

  “I swear to you, Mistress, I am simply translating their thoughts to you,” Tuitonn testified. “They seem to be aware that I can do that. The wish to see you was not a passing thought so much as one directed at me.”

  “Well, I guess the helmet will be plenty of air,” Jocasta said as she removed her shoulder straps.

  “They have taken that into account, Captain,” Tuitonn said as wind started to swirl around the ship. Jocasta looked up out of the canopy and lost the ability to move for a moment.

  “Sweet star of deliverance, shine me home,” she whispered. “Is that what was chasing me?”

  Looking something like a Pteranodon, the black-skinned creature stood two and a half meters tall with a wingspan of ten meters. What Jocasta first thought was a massive tail feather separated into two powerfully built, feather-lined legs. The talons at the end of its feet were hooked and looked incredibly sharp. Unlike the Ptera
nodon, there were no arms attached to the powerful wings that appeared to be lined thinly with feathers. As it landed upon the ground, Jocasta could see the assumed feathers were actually long strands of hair that seemed to be capable of independent movement. Two large arms were folded into the chest much like the way a Praying Mantis carried its arms, and while the claws were smaller than those on the feet, there were only three on each foot; the hands possessed five fingers and an opposable thumb.

  “Good gracious alive,” Jocasta said as watched the creature land. It took two steps toward the Daedalus with a purple-wooded branch in its one-meter long pointed black beak. The upper and lower edges of the beak were lined with teeth – razor sharp near the front, but wide and flat at the rear. The large branch fell against the rock and the creature cried out, squatting over it, wrapping its massive wings around the severed plant. Small specks of yellow light traveled down the hairs for a moment, generating a slight glow. The creature then stood up and backed away. The branch was glowing brightly, and Tuitonn ran a sensor sweep over the area.

  “Approaching breathable conditions,” he reported. “But they suggest you take a dose of Gwarthine, just to be safe.”

  “Consider it done,” Jocasta said as she reached for her med-pack. She was ready to hand the injector back when she reminded herself that Tuitonn did not need to breathe. The canopy opened and she quickly climbed down the side of the fighter. When she reached the ground, Tuitonn floated down and sat atop her cane. “You like it there, eh?” she chuckled.

  “With a few minor renovations, I think it would be an ideal place for me to be,” Tuitonn returned.

  “Take it up with blue-boy when he gets back,” Jocasta whispered. There was a strong scent to the air, but nothing she found to be disagreeable – more like a sweet pine-like aroma that made her feel pretty good. “And we have to get some of that herb!”

  “For one who is as gifted to flight as you, young Terran, more will be brought to you before you take your leave of us,” Tuitonn said as a larger winged creature approached, landing in front of the one that had brought the branch. “Captain, I believe that’s the–”