"The local office is going through all their activities—the ones we can track, anyway," Kooper said. "Chief Markus is scheduled to keep us updated. I'd like dates and times when those two were pulled into this, too."
"Shields up, with extras," Trent poked his head in the door. "Mom's about to make the move."
"You think the Strafer will explode the minute those bodies disappear?" I asked Kooper.
"I'd say there's more than a ninety percent chance of it," he replied.
Sabrina
I have no idea why I'd been allowed to witness this, but I stood on the back of the bridge with Randl and Jayna, while Queen Lissa raised a hand and employed power I hadn't known existed.
No wonder Travis and Trent were so talented. Their mother was extremely powerful, if she could do something like this.
Her physician mate, Karzac, was already on the Melody IV, waiting for the bodies to be deposited inside a containment compartment. That ship would be on its way to Le-Ath Veronis shortly after.
We were ready for a resulting blast, once the bodies were removed, too. All ASD ships had moved back and had full shields up, waiting for that explosion.
I wish I could say we were disappointed.
The blast that resulted the moment Lorvis and Akrinn's bodies were moved would have destroyed any ship that hadn't taken extreme precautions.
As it was, the explosion rocked the Raptor II anyway, knocking half of us to the floor.
Melody IV
Lissa
"The ship was emptied, except for those two bodies and the spell laid on it," I told Kooper. "Either the spell caster was aboard when the Strafer left Jaledis, or he's stronger than we think."
"Maybe both," Kooper set his tea on the table inside the Melody's galley and took a chair, weariness in his posture as he sat.
"Yeah. I worry about that, too," I said. "He could have been aboard the whole time the ship was docked, wearing a spell that would hide him from anything and anybody."
"I think Randl might have seen him, but he'd have to be close enough to do it," Kooper sipped his tea.
"Kooper, you need sleep," I told him. "If you refuse, Karzac may have something to say about that."
"How long until we reach Le-Ath Veronis?"
"Six hours."
"Tell the physician to meet me in my quarters in fifteen," Kooper grimaced. "I'd welcome a healing sleep."
Chapter 10
Raptor II
Sabrina
If I were at home, my parents would have called a physician specializing in mental problems by now. My circumstances would be laughable if they weren't so fucking tragic.
I should be mourning a friend's death—the best friend I'd had since primary school. Instead, I vacillated between anger and depression. The conflict made me want to throw things—or cry.
"Come on." Randl's hand gripped my shoulder. "Let's go work out with weights. I always find doing something physical helps with conflicting thoughts."
How had he found me in the supply room?
Never mind.
I didn't want to go with him; I forced myself to stand and follow him anyway. My rising wasn't as graceful as Travis and Trent's; I recalled that I wanted to work on that—before things blew up in my face and friends plotted my murder.
It was after hours and I should have been in my cabin, preparing for bed. Randl padded softly ahead of me, his feet and chest bare, clothed in loose-fitting trousers that many used for training or exercise.
Randl's chest wasn't broad or muscled like the twins, but he was trim enough and had nothing to be embarrassed about.
Racks of weights in the exercise room awaited us as the auto-light blinked on. "Stretch, first," Randl called over his shoulder and bent over to touch his toes. Following his lead, I bent over, too, discovering that I was still sore from the workout two days before.
By the time we were finished stretching, my muscles didn't feel as cramped as they had when we started.
"Now we do the leg press," Randl strode toward two machines on one side. "I hear you should start out light and build up from there."
I ended up flat on my back on the bench, pushing weights up with my legs and then lowering them. Up and back, up and back.
"Don't forget to breath," Travis' face appeared over mine.
"Why are you here?" I blew out a breath.
"This is our time," he grinned at me.
"Huh?"
"Bro and I come in late, before bedtime, and whack each other with practice swords," he said. "If you finish with your weights and don't hurt yourself, you can even watch."
"You have so little faith—ugh," I pushed the weight up again, "In me," I blew out another breath.
"On the contrary," he lifted an eyebrow. "I expect the very best from those who show the most promise."
"Right—ugh."
"Come on, you've done enough of that. Much more and Jayna will kill you in the morning."
Great. We were back to learning fighting and self-defense.
"We've set a course for Pyrik, if you're curious," he stood aside while I rolled stiffly off the bench. "Bend over and stretch your back and legs again," he added. My hair, which was only tied back with a single band, flopped in my face as I bent over.
How did I think to get through the day without embarrassment, depression and anger?
"Come on, ponytail, sit against the wall with Randl. We'll show you how the Falchani do things."
"Ponytail?" I mouthed at Randl, hoping he'd see my mouth to decipher my question.
The way you have your hair up, he informed me in mindspeech.
He was still shirtless, and the gold medallion he wore around his neck rose and fell with his breaths.
"Does yours have your name on it, too?" I asked, trying to keep my face from heating again.
"It has my name, and a quote," he said, lifting it and turning it over, so I could see the engraving.
"Touch the stars?" I squinted at the small words.
"It's a book title—a classical piece and required reading in some classrooms," he said.
"Hmmph. I didn't read it. What's it about?"
"About a young man who wants adventure, so he joins the ASD in its infancy, to explore other worlds. He doesn't really find himself until he goes home and examines his familial roots."
"Sounds enlightening."
"You know I can sense sarcasm from several clicks away."
"Right." To hide my embarrassment, I turned toward Travis and Trent, then, who appeared to be done with their stretching routine. A large, metal chest shoved against a wall was then opened and Trent drew out four dull, polished blades.
Shortly after, their shirts came off and I blinked at the dragon tattoos running up and down their arms. Travis' dragons gleamed like deep blue sapphires on his skin, while Trent's shone like emeralds.
Until then, I hadn't considered that they'd fight with more than one sword apiece. After only a few moments of the brothers going after each other with a blade in each hand, my mouth dropped open.
They were experts at this, and I never thought to see anything like it—unless I wished to visit Falchan.
I hear you have to start training in this very young, Randl's mindspeech held a hint of wistfulness.
"How long have they had training?" I asked, raising my voice as the clanging of blades grew louder and the movement faster between the brothers.
Since they were seven, came the answer.
It made me wonder how old they were.
In their fifties, but they're immortal so age means nothing, Randl answered my unspoken question. Their tattoos have to be earned—each one of them, so you can see how many times they've been rewarded for valor.
I closed my eyes as any hope I had for a relationship with either fled. I was nearly thirty, mortal and had barely done anything valorous. Why would those two want me in three years—or thirty or three hundred, for that matter?
It was the worst ending to one of the worst days of my life
. If I could have left the room without anyone noticing, I would have. As it was, the sparring took up the entire floor—what wasn't covered by exercise equipment, anyway.
I don't think it matters one damn bit to them, Randl's voice floated into my mind. They're interested, it's just not allowed, according to ASD regulations.
With my eyes still closed, I blew out a sigh and struggled not to weep.
After the twins were finished, Randl and I left the exercise room. By that time, I was exhausted and hoped I'd be able to sleep. I didn't see the enormous bouquet of flowers on my tiny bedside table until I'd shut my cabin door.
A small, paper note was nestled among beautiful rose buds and lilies. A loss, whether by betrayal, death or both, is still a loss, it read. Condolences—Queen Lissa.
I wiped tears away before touching fragile petals with trembling fingers.
Randl
"Grip the pistol in your dominant hand first, then place your other hand on the opposite side, covering your dominant fingers with the others," Travis instructed. "Hold tightly with the non-dominant hand to reinforce your dominant hand, because you want a firm grip on the weapon. My teachers always said to hold it so hard your hands shake, and then loosen your grip just until the shaking stops. That will give you enough control. Touch here for single fire, here for rapid fire."
I held a replica of a laser pistol in my hands while Travis showed me how to fire the thing after breakfast. We had nearly two full day's journey to Pyrik, and the crew took advantage of the time to teach Sabrina and me.
Somewhere else, Jayna worked with Sabrina on similar lessons while Trent captained BlackWing X. Sabrina and I stretched, did weight training and ran on treadmills together before breakfast, while Jayna supervised.
I looked forward to running outside sometime soon, so I could see and experience new things.
Sabrina didn't talk much during our combined training, but I noticed a new determination in her—to put recent deaths behind her and move forward. She also had a new goal, and that was to find whomever had orchestrated the theft of her design and have them arrested.
I wondered if our opposition realized how angry she'd be, or that a brilliant mind was now focused on finding them.
"Now," Travis instructed, "while holding the weapon firmly with both hands, point it at the target in front of you."
A three-dimensional image roughly resembling a humanoid was directly before me. "Lock your elbows in place," he pushed my arms into the proper position. "Use the sight image the pistol displays above the barrel, to aim at the target. Now, fire once," he added.
The replica jerked in my hand, just as the actual weapon would, surprising me. A harmless laser image was sent out, which the target recorded as the place I'd hit.
"Hmmm, lower abdomen," Travis said with a frown. "You wounded him—not fatal, but bloody. This is why it's important to lock your elbows and keep arm movement at a minimum. Do all that and you'll hit your targets accurately. Don't worry, nobody's perfect when they start out. Practice will make you better. Have you read the information regarding safety standards for carrying a weapon?"
"Twice," I said.
"Good. Lift your weapon, sight your target, lock your elbows and hold your breath before firing this time."
Sabrina
"Not bad." Jayna walked around the three-dimensional target, examining it where my shots had hit. I'd hit it three times in the chest, twice slightly lower. "Get your arm movement under control and I'll have you certified in no time."
The fake laser pistol I held had much more kick than the ranos pistol I'd designed. If I'd had my own weapon, all five shots would have been in the proper area.
"Does a standard issue ranos pistol have the same kick?" I asked Jayna.
"Almost the same—slightly less, I think."
"My design has practically no kick," I said. "If Director Griff has taken the time to fire it, he should know that by now."
"I think he's been more fascinated by the shield you incorporated," Jayna said, turning to frown at me. "I'll pass the information to Captain Trent, though. Director Griff needs to know that."
"If I were in my lab, I could make enough of the new design for the crew," I said.
"I'll share that with Captain Trent, too. How long would it take?" she thought to ask.
"I could have them in a day, but the calibration would take longer."
"I'll let the Captain know. Why don't you use the time before lunch to watch training vids and study?"
"I'll do that," I agreed, handing the weapon back to her. "Is it possible to get tea from the galley before I do that?"
"Of course. Just ask Susan or Bekzi. They'll have a snack for you, too, if you want it. By the way, both are fully-trained as backups for us, and neither misses when they shoot."
"So everybody aboard the Raptor," I began.
"It's time you knew," Jayna interrupted, holding up a hand. "You're actually aboard BlackWing X. The entire BlackWing Pirate fleet is run by the ASD."
"Fucking hells," I breathed as Jayna grinned at me. "I guess this is something I can't tell anybody, including my father?"
"Got it in one," Jayna laughed. "Get a snack and tea, then contemplate your new life as a pirate."
I'm sure they expected me to research the BlackWing Pirates, once I learned I was a member of that elite and nefarious crew. So many sites claimed they were the worst of the worst, and had shot down or taken many ships since their origin roughly fifteen years earlier.
How many of those things were true, and which were planted by the ASD to provide cover?
Rampant speculation ran through the same sites, as to which criminal faction or legally-operating conglomerate actually backed the BlackWing bunch.
None were even close to the truth.
I wondered if the CSD was aware. Perhaps I'd ask Travis or Trent. Another thought hit me—had Randl known all along? He knew everything else. He must be a treasury of hidden secrets, because I'd had no clue.
Randl was the perfect ASD operative, in my opinion. His blindness labeled him as non-threatening. Travis and Trent were teaching him how to protect himself, and how to shoot—I'd gotten that information from Jayna.
Perhaps I appeared to be much the same. Those who'd attempted to kill Jett Riffler could attest to that. They hadn't expected me to have a weapon. If I hadn't broken the law and carried one, Riffler and I would be dead while Akrinn and Lorvis would still be alive.
Honestly, I was glad to be the one who lived.
"Lorvis, what did you do?" I spoke softly before powering on my vid-screen. I had plenty to learn before I took the ASD exams to become a full-fledged agent.
Mer'bali, Pyrik
Winkler
"That woman is more of a genius than I originally thought," Kooper dumped salt and pepper on his steak before cutting into it.
I'd been invited to have lunch with him, while Lukas met with Rodrik and several others to discuss the drawbacks of the logging industry.
"How's that?" I asked before stuffing a chunk of rare prime rib in my mouth.
"Not only did she design an effective shield for her ranos pistol, but the kick a pistol normally has is practically eliminated."
"Sounds like an excellent design," I said after a moment.
"I've had some of my weapons experts working with it all morning. They can't stop raving about it," Kooper said. "I heard from Trent that Sabrina can provide those pistols for the ship's crew in a day's time, with a bit of calibration afterward. She can probably have them armed successfully in two or three days, if they'll take her back to her lab."
"That's when Conclave is set to start again, or close enough," I pointed out. "Have there been any updates on the presidency?"
"They're still fighting each other, and the vote could be days if not weeks away. I'd like to reschedule the Conclave. It would give us time to investigate everything that's going on without endangering more people, but that could cause the enemy to withdraw into whatever hole they cr
awled out of to cause trouble."
"Is there a way to postpone it for a month or two, then? Send the attendees home and bring them back? It would be safer for them, no doubt, and the hole crawlers would still be plotting, you can count on it."
"I'll talk to Ildevar and Teeg. They'll have the final say on this."
"I'd say get to talking, then. You need room to maneuver—don't tell me that's not true."
"You're right. They'll complain about the expense, but then nobody expected the president to go nuts, hide nuclear waste dumps and try to kill the Director of the CSD over it."
"Maybe you can fudge a little, and say you're securing the dump sites because there are noticeable irregularities in some residents."
"Well, that's a thought," Kooper considered my words. "I'll suggest that to Teeg and Ildevar when we talk. Maybe they'll see the sense in it and send everybody home with a legitimate excuse."
"It's not an excuse," I pointed out. "Something's going on, and it's worse than just a few irregularities. That's to make sure everybody isn't scared witless over this."
"True enough. When we're done here, I'll see about a word from our sponsors."
"That's funnier than you think," I pointed my fork at him.
Randl
"The official word has been given—Conclave is postponed for two months, so authorities can research irregularities caused by the waste dumps, and give Pyrik time to elect a new president."
Trent had called us together to make the announcement. "That means," he added, "that we'll be heading back to Jaledis, so Sabrina can ply her trade and get us equipped with the latest and greatest."
"Will we stay with your uncles again?" Jayna asked.
"That's the plan," Trent grinned. "We'll be safe there, and there's plenty of room for exercise and fresh air. It'll also give us the chance to work with the locals in their search for Akrinn's and Lorvis' contacts."
"At least Lorvis won't know where I am, anymore," Sabrina mumbled beside me.
"She only knew where your comp-vid was, not you," I whispered back.
MindSighted: BlackWing Pirates, Book 1 Page 14
