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

by Reiter

  “As stiff as you can make it!” Eskee said, almost exasperated.

  “As you wish,” the man said as he reached into his coat and produced a silver flask. He handed it to Eskee who fumbled the first two attempts to open the container. Once it was open, however, he took a healthy gulp from it, wincing at the foul taste.

  “What the hell was that?!”

  “Poison,” Márvo said calmly as he took the flask back. “… a very particular type of poison in fact; a concoction I picked up in the Gulmar System.” Eskee stammered, marveling at the fact that he could not even lift his hand. “I know. Fast-acting stuff, right?

  “Climb, please,” Márvo commanded as he lifted the partition halfway. “And if you check your accounts, my good man, you have been paid through the end of tomorrow. But if you keep your eyes away from your timepiece, you won’t be lying when you have to report that you don’t know the time your passengers were no longer in your company.

  “Understood sir,” the driver quickly replied.

  “Good man,” Márvo said, lifting the partition the rest of the way. Looking at Eskee, the slender man smiled. “You see, it’s even getting hard to breathe, right? Because if you could breathe, you’d gasp when I did this…” Tapping his wrist-com, the image projectors of his suit deactivated as Nulaki removed his mask. “I just knew you were going to catch a glimpse of the dashboard and see the mass of the passengers this thing was carrying… but alas, no.”

  Reaching to the pocket on his pant leg, Nulaki produced an injector. He touched it to Eskee’s arm and the hiss signaled the delivery of a drug. Almost immediately Eskee could breathe and move his face, and he frowned as he looked at his hand that was slowly moving.

  “Yeah, this part can be a bit confusing,” Nulaki said softly. “You shouldn’t worry though, because I am going to kill you. I’m going to take all the stones in your vault, save for the two that are booby-trapped.” Looking up and around, Nulaki smiled as he looked at the injector, making changes to the drug. “It seems that we’ve leveled off. We must be really high over the city! Good!” Touching the injector to Eskee once more, the man gasped as his body shuddered. “That was adrenaline!” Nulaki advised. “Let’s take this outside!”

  With a quick shove, Nulaki pushed Eskee against the door and it fell open. The man screamed as he fell out of the air-car and Nulaki fell out after him. The two bodies fell for a moment and Nulaki quickly took hold of Eskee Dalberri who was still screaming.

  “You see, I didn’t want you to miss a moment of this,” Nulaki shouted. “The adrenaline will keep you from passing out, Dalberri.” Nulaki slapped the man’s back, pushing away from his body. “… and that force field generator should keep your impact from being immediately fatal! Don’t worry, by my count, you’ll break every bone in your body!” Nulaki tapped the recall button on the remote control fastened to his belt and threw his arms from his sides. He dropped for only a few seconds before he heard the engines of his Black Assassin delivery. The flight pack touched down on his back and the straps locked around his waist and shoulders as it stopped projecting images of traffic. Leaning to the left, Nulaki banked, heading for the vault site where Beatrice was waiting with an open vault and a bomb that was counting down. Opening a channel to the woman, the Fazbred thief talked her through the steps to slow the timer. It was still showing three minutes, but it would take fifteen for it to count down to zero. Nulaki estimated he would be at the vault in four.

  How does one look upon a Dragon and not evolve!

  Freund

  (XI)

  (Rims Time: XII-4203.28)

  The doors to the office parted and Isaiah walked into his office, followed by J’Raldri who glared at the ‘guest’ who had insisted on waiting inside the office. Tapping a button on his wrist-com, the tall and slender holding bin opened and small, robotic hands extended from inside to receive the Governor’s armour.

  “At last,” Hanvashi said, getting up from the middle of the sofa. “I was beginning to think I was going to be made to wait all day.”

  Isaiah chuckled as the hard body armour was removed. “Did you happen to see the size of this station?”

  “Yes, I did. It is immense.”

  “You arrive without so much as a whisper in the ear of dock-hand on the public slips, and you think the person, whose job it is to see to this place, will simply drop whatever it is they were doing to meet with you? Mr. Zoll–”

  “Baron Zoll,” Hanvashi quickly corrected.

  “Baron?” Isaiah questioned, turning to look at the man.

  “Shorter than what I expected,” the Governor thought.

  “Yes, Baron Hanvashi Zoll.”

  “I know a few things about Barons,” Isaiah smiled. “Occupational perk.” Isaiah walked behind his desk while J’Raldri maintained her place to his left, close to the wall. “Under whose order?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Under whose provincial order are you a Baron?” Isaiah pressed, taking his seat and breathing easier the moment his body made contact with the chair.

  “The goddess Xaythra has named me as her Baron,” Hanvashi said proudly.

  “A goddess who does not have a representative recognized by the Convocation of the Church,” Isaiah pointed out, leaning back in his chair. “A goddess who herself can’t lay claim to belonging to the Deistic Deputation. About the only thing that is actually registered about your goddess is Tau Upsilon… and we both know what happened there.

  “And before you try to make your mark, please know that I just got this office the way I like it,” Isaiah said, holding up his hand to bring Hanvashi’s advance to a halt. “I would sure hate to ruin everything.” Hanvashi’s eyes glowed as he glared at the man.

  “Foolish child of a man,” Hanvashi hissed before the room shuddered. The lights dimmed for a moment as the sound of capacitors charging echoed through the room.

  “Yeah,” Isaiah said, looking down at his desk. “Would sure be a pain in my ass to have to get a crew in here to wipe up your gravity-wielding carcass after it’s turned inside out!” Very slowly, the eyes of the Governor came up to look hard into the eyes of his rude guest. “Yes, I know what you are, and I know what you can do… probably better than you do. You look a little young to me to be as big and bad as you put on. Not saying it can’t be done, but the last time people younger than me truly impressed me, one was blue and the other was… well the other simply was.

  “Unlike my predecessors, it is my aim to use every advantage of this office to its fullest. Do you know how many colleges of the Energies there are in Black Gate?” Isaiah asked. “Fun fact: part of their agreement in having a campus here – they have to provide services to this office. You see, while you were waiting, my fighter-sister took the liberty of pressing a few buttons and having your idiot ass read up and down. We know who you think you are... we know about Xaythra… we know about Renatus and your efforts to re-establish yourselves. Now there’s where you have my respect. You had something, it was wiped out, and you’re putting the pieces back together. That takes gumption and buckets of dedication! Maybe you should stick to that.

  “Those sounds you heard before I got my back up… those were contingencies kicking in and getting ready to go active.”

  “Which one will resurrect you?” Hanvashi said softly.

  “That option was not installed,” Isaiah said calmly. “But thank you, because it’s definitely going in the suggestion box. No, the stuff in here is just your run-of-the-mill energy weapon barrage that can put a hole in the side of a battleship, but it’s the teleport feature that you’d be more interested in. You see if you and your ship survive the first volley and I don’t give the safe word, everyone in this office, along with your ship, gets teleported into the Black Gate. Do you know what happens to objects that enter the gate without the proper procedure?

  “And before you come off sounding stale with, ‘then you’d be killing yourself and your protector’, try to remember I’m the Governor. I’m the
living example of the proper procedure. Me and mine would be just fine, cradled even… probably get a wash and set out of it. You and yours… let’s just say you’d be Upsiloned!

  “I think that about sums up everything,” Isaiah said as he got up from his chair. “Mr. Zoll, I understand you’re here to petition for passage into The Territories and instead of trying to force the hand of the Council, you came here to throw your weight around and get what you want. I have half a mind to say you need to wait until the thirty-first, but I think I would rather rid my place, and my people, of your presence. So, if you can have your ship at the aperture within the hour, I will personally open the gate for you. Provided you too are aboard that ship.”

  “We shall have to meet again,” Hanvashi said before turning to walk out of the office. “Perhaps when my need to be elsewhere is not so great.”

  “I would say ‘never’, but it’s been that kind of week!” Isaiah replied. “You’d be surprised what I was doing just a few hours ago. Now, if you excuse me. It may be early, but I just had an all-nighter to end all all-nighters. This Governor needs to get some sleep.” Hanvashi walked out of the office without saying another word. When the doors of the lift closed behind him, Isaiah sighed in relief.

  “That was a remarkable bluff,” J’Raldri said softly.

  “Partial bluff,” Isaiah sighed, putting his hands on his knees. Goldie came into view, patting Isaiah on the back. “Did you really just have me stand-down a damn demigod?!”

  “It was the only way to be rid of him, Governor,” Goldie replied. “But how did you manage that wave of information?”

  Isaiah stood up and touched his sleeve. The appearance of fabric faded, revealing a familiar-looking brace-com. “Let’s just say that I’m still connected to Starblazer, and that has a number of advantages. The fact that you did not know that, however, means you and I need to have a sit-me-down.”

  “If only I had the time, my lord,” Goldie said just before his nostrils flared. He looked toward the lift for a moment and his lips pressed together. “I came to tell you that Gustav, at this point, is on the up and up. He is certainly a gutter-swimmer, but at least he has a code.”

  “First you take care of Mother, then you arrange the meeting between me and Gustav, and now you’re bailing? What gives, Goldie?”

  “JoJo’s coming into one seriously rough landing, your lordship,” he admitted. “You could say that I’m just trying to pad things for her.”

  “JoJo?” J’Raldri questioned. “You mean your Captain, right?”

  “Fare thee well, Isaiah Gundryss,” Goldie said before closing his eyes. A slight flash of light teleported him out of the office.

  “Should we read anything into the fact he did not call you Governor or lord?” J’Raldri asked.

  “You’re the one in touch with the spirits,” Isaiah returned. “What do they tell you about him?”

  “That I can believe what he says but not what I see,” the L’Konno woman advised.

  “Great! That’s just wonderful!” Isaiah put his hands on his hips and started to continue his tirade when the doors of the Governor’s personal lift opened. He looked at the tall, muscular figure stepping out and looking around the office with a pair of gold eyes that missed very little. Isaiah smiled, held up his arm with the brace-com, and pointed at the device. “This thing works like a charm!”

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  The voyage into the Prism Baronies did very little to ease Hanvashi’s disposition. The audacity of the Governor was something he would not soon forget, and he was actually looking forward to their next encounter. Adding insult to injury, while the Governor had kept his word about the aperture, he had altered the tunnelway in such a way that Hanvashi’s ship was taken directly to his destination. He inquired if any of his crew knew the man had that kind of power. He was soon advised that only the Barons could alter the aperture. More than Hanvashi’s bio must have been researched in the time he had been made to wait. Anxious to be back among his own people, Hanvashi departed his ship without taking his escort, teleporting into the chambers of the councilwoman.

  “By the goddess herself,” Kollette gasped, slowly standing up. The brightness in her eyes brought Hanvashi from his anger as he watched the woman get up and rush around her desk.

  “Kollette?” he said softly, seeing an image of a much younger woman inside the form that had stopped running. “Kollette V’Tarson?”

  “You remember… me?!” the woman whispered, putting her hand over her mouth as tears formed in her eyes.

  “You are the second-born child of Andern and Kasha V’Tarson,” Hanvashi said, moving to get a better view of the woman. “You once danced for me. The Lilac Queen, if I recall correctly.”

  “Oh, my lord!” the woman said, falling to her knees and weeping uncontrollably. “Forgive me!” Hanvashi all but flew to the woman’s side and took hold of her shoulders.

  “Sweet child, there is nothing to forgive!” he said, taking the woman into a warm embrace. “I am elated that you survived what will forever be our darkest day. Xaythra delivered us both!”

  “They told us you were dead,” the woman cried, looking up at the Baron. “Mistress Survaysi said you had perished along with most of our numbers.”

  “I know. I know, sweet child,” Hanvashi said, moving his hand over the woman’s head. “It’s all right now.” Hanvashi brought the woman up from the floor and wiped her face of her tears. He massaged her shoulders, smiling warmly as she looked on his face. “We have been tried, Kollette… tested beyond measure. We are still here! We still have our opportunity to serve Xaythra and glorify her light. Look at what her light has already brought together. You managed to get word to me out in the Rims and–” Hanvashi stopped as a frown of confusion formed on the woman’s face. “But you did not get word to me.”

  “No, my lord,” Kollette replied as her eyes opened wide in realization. “But I believe I know who did. It would also explain the request this office received to afford you direct transit to the Pearl Barony.” The woman wiped the last of her tears and started for the door. “Could you come with me, please.”

  The two of them walked out of the councilwoman’s office, making their way to a tram. The rail car floated above the slender beam and Hanvashi took the opportunity to look out over the city. It was slightly more advanced than what the Baron had expected, rivaling if not exceeding the teeming megaplexes he had visited on Hope and Glory. So many soft gray and white buildings reached for the clouds, and it appeared that two in particular might have been reaching for the stars when they were assembled. Hanvashi could feel the presence of power and tremendous capacities of MannA.

  “Is this the capital?” Hanvashi asked.

  “Furine Pointe?” Kollette asked. “No, this is West Nest. Furine is on the other side of the planet.”

  “West Nest?” he asked.

  “It’s easier to show you, my Baron,” Kollette said with a bright smile, looking over his shoulder. “Turn around.” Hanvashi quickly turned around. His curiosity was one thing, his senses were another. Something was approaching and relatively quickly. Kollette’s smile kept him from being too worried or defensive. Still, the man did not dally.

  “Glory of the Goddess!” he gasped.

  On gold and bronze leathery wings, the scaled and horned creature carried itself on the wind. As large as a gunship and one hundred times more impressive to look upon, it passed over the tram car and Hanvashi was not the only passenger that was captivated at the sight and sound of the magnificent life-form. But such was the normal reaction to a Dragon! It roared, and even the clouds seemed to scream in delight. Hanvashi’s eyes flared even wider when three of the taller towers burst into spell-sign, creating perches. The female Dragon looked down and chose the lowest one, slowing her approach and lightly touching down with all four of her legs grasping on to the majikul brace. She turned and looked back the way she had come, giving a sharp, high-pitched bark the echoed on the wind.

&nbs
p; “These must be the early ones,” Kollette said, touching Hanvashi’s shoulder and nudging him to turn around again. Another bark answered the call of the female Dragon, but this one was low and it thundered, shaking the tram, though none of the riders seemed to be frightened by the sensation. Hanvashi could not believe what he was feeling and disengaged the probing ability of his senses in an effort of self-preservation.

  Out of the clouds seven young Dragons glided toward their teacher. The first three looked to be dealing with the effort of gliding. The fourth was a silvery-white youth that barrel-rolled as he arched over the tram, trailing MannA from his tail. The fifth, a green Dragon with short, yellow wings, looked to be more concerned with crashing than flying. He was putting incredible effort into flapping his wings, but forgetting to leave them fully extended in order to glide. He screamed, looking at the rail as it seemed the two were about to meet abruptly. A large blue Dragon flew under the green youth and gave him an upward nudge to pass over the tram as the large Dragon dove to fly under the rail. The seventh Dragon was a shiny black hatchling with bronze feathered wings. She looked as if she had been born on the wind, swaying left and right as the others flew straight ahead. They all took to the higher perches and the blue male settled on the far side of the perches as he anticipated the green over-shooting them. The seventh landed on the bracing, taking up a position beside the lead bronze Horned Maiden. They nuzzled one another as the blue finally took his place.