I heard Lexsi and Kory are heading your way.
They're coming? Wait, you're teasing me, aren't you?
No, man. Serious as a coronary.
That would be outstanding. I hardly ever get to see baby sis for longer than ten minutes.
If you need a warlock, you know who to call.
Ilya Ironsmith?
Funny, bro, he replied.
That's for the sword remark. That was my closet and you know it.
Mom says she's letting Lexsi go on this little outing in case you need a controlled burn.
That—makes sense, I conceded. Randl says burning can get rid of the anomalies.
That's what Mom suggested, too. It's much better than destroying the entire—you know.
I do. Thanks for the heads up. Things could get interesting from here on out.
Keep me posted. You know I love a good story.
Will do. Gotta go so I can unpack and fill my empty closet.
That'll take two seconds, dude.
Where will I ever put my winter wardrobe? I teased.
Maybe you can convince Travis to get a trailer for number X to haul your extras.
That's almost funny. See ya, bro.
Yeah.
Randl
"The Crown Prince and Princess of the High Demons are here to help?" If I hadn't seen Travis' serious expression, I'd have thought he was teasing me.
"Just got here, actually. Wyatt's here, too, and he wants to meet with you. Trent, Lexsi, Kory and I will probably sit in."
"All right. Where will we meet?"
"In the Captain's cubby—I think there's enough room there for all of us. Bring something to drink—this could take a while."
A few minutes later, with a mug of tea in my hand, I joined Travis, Trent, Wyatt and two others in the Captain's cubby near the bridge.
"Director Griff wants me to tell you my theory of who may be behind all this," Wyatt began.
"You have a theory?" Lexsi, Crown Princess of Kifirin, was suddenly sitting up straighter in her seat. I could see that she clearly trusted Wyatt. Shoving long, white-blonde hair over a shoulder, she gazed at Wyatt expectantly.
Wyatt was her older brother. He was also slightly older than Travis and Trent, who were his uncles. I turned back to Wyatt, although his idea was already forming in my mind.
The terrifying part was that he could be right.
Travis
"So those two-bit pirates we haven't bothered with could have joined forces with a sorcerer or some other powerful being, and hatched this plot?" Trent didn't sound happy. Hell, I wasn't happy, either.
All along, we'd been instructed to ignore small-time piracy in favor of the bigger boys in the shipping lanes. It was similar to ignoring the occasional pickpocket in favor of chasing the bank robbers.
"Do we have incident reports on any of those smaller pirate attacks?" Randl asked quietly. He was thinking hard about this, I could tell.
"I'll see if there are any to pass along," I offered. He dipped his head in a nod. "I'll do research on Cord'ilus, too. I know it's destroyed, but there had to be a reason they chose it, don't you think?"
"That makes sense," Wyatt said. "Let me know if you find anything."
"I will."
"Dinner is waiting, according to Bekzi," I announced. "Is there anything else before we haul ass to the galley?"
"Not from me," Kory grinned and held up a hand.
We ended up shoving three tables together, so Sabrina, Jayna, David and Terrett could join us. I told them Wyatt's theory, and that we'd be ready to go whenever Kooper sent the word.
That word wouldn't come until likely signs were recorded by micro-drones. "I'd like everyone to meet in the exercise room for a bit of meditation an hour after dinner," Trent said. "We need to get rid of some stress, I think, or this could keep most of us awake, worrying about it."
Randl
Sabrina hung back when the rest of us left the table to head for our cabins. I wanted to dress more comfortably before sitting cross-legged on the floor for meditation.
Travis and Trent stayed behind, too.
They wanted time together with Sabrina, and I understood that—because I wanted time with her, too.
Time to tell her how grateful I was that she was alive.
Shoving that aside, I focused on walking toward my cabin, and ended up behind Lexsi and Kory, whose shared cabin was right next to mine.
He smiled down at her and leaned in for a kiss just as they reached their cabin door. Nearly tumbling inside after Lexsi turned the handle, the door was shut quickly behind them.
With a heavy sigh, I opened my door and walked inside, where only things that didn't really matter waited for me.
Later, I sat cross-legged between David and Bekzi in the exercise room, while Sabrina's familiar ponytail taunted me two rows up.
Her eyes would be locked on Travis and Trent at the front, who'd be guiding our meditation.
Closing my eyes to shut out what I couldn't have and therefore shouldn't want, I began early, searching for the peace that meditation could provide.
Like in my occasional dreams, the stars in the darkness appeared after a while, sending a shiver of wonder through me.
They were there, as always, like they were waiting for me to touch them.
Zaria's inscription floated through my mind.
Touch the stars.
What would it hurt?
Reaching out mentally, I attempted to connect with one or two of those shining lights.
"Randl?"
I woke with a gasp to find David's face in front of mine. He was smiling. "Somebody always falls asleep," he teased. "Come on, man, let's go sneak a beer from the galley before bed."
"I'm right behind you," I said, rubbing sleep from my eyes. "Damn, I didn't realize how tired I was."
"Stress can do that," David said. I rose and followed him out of the exercise room, turning left to navigate the corridors back to the galley.
"Cheers," David clinked his bottle against mine before drinking.
I turned away from the dimly lit galley to stare at the stars surrounding Pyrik. From our orbiting position, they weren't streaks of light, although they did move out of my window's range rather quickly.
It didn't matter; there were always more stars to see as we continued our circular path around the planet.
"You're having a beer and didn't invite me?" Wyatt appeared at our table and pretended offense.
"Sit down, I'll get one for you," David said and slid off his chair.
"Thanks, man," Wyatt nodded.
"How soon do you think we'll be called away?" I asked Wyatt.
"It'll take a day or two before we get reliable reports from the drones," Wyatt said. "After that, it's anybody's guess."
"I looked up information on Cord'ilus," I said. "Other than it being abandoned for nearly a thousand years, it was on a list for the logging industry to study for potential logging. Doesn't matter now, because the planet and all its trees are now space dust." I took another swig from my beer.
"We know they're not really interested in any of those worlds that don't have the technology and population to support their logging crews," Wyatt sighed. "That's why the question is on the ballot for Conclave."
"I understand that," I agreed. What I didn't understand was why it troubled me. Cord'ilus was gone and a moot point. Still, I intended to dig deeper into its history, to learn all I could about it.
David came back at that moment with Wyatt's beer. "Down the hatch," Wyatt grinned and held up his bottle.
"Here, here," David said and we drank.
Lee'Qee, Pyrik
Varok
"The troops are ready to go," Perill informed me. "Will others be waiting on the designated planets when their transport arrives to take them?"
"All is set, according to the Prophet," I turned toward Perill after finishing the last of my star charts for the various journeys. "We have trained ours well; they will take command upo
n arrival."
"Will they be shielded well enough? We do not need discovery by either Alliance until all is ready," Perill pointed out.
Perill's whining made me want to lash out at him. He'd lost trainees in the attack on Cord'ilus, so his questions were justified. I merely didn't want to hear them. Perhaps it was fortuitous that the Prophet had canceled his journey to Pyrik after Cord'ilus was destroyed; Perill would surely have embarrassed himself and warranted a death sentence. The Prophet would make sure I'd be responsible for performing the execution. Perill and I had already lost our father, Vrak. I didn't want to destroy my only remaining kin.
It was now known that the Reth Alliance had a ranos cannon at their disposal; how else could they have destroyed Cord'ilus? I imagined that the Prophet was focusing his abilities on obtaining such a powerful weapon, as it would ensure our victory in the end.
"Brother, I know Cord'ilus' destruction troubles you," I told Perill. "Focus on the plan. Make those deaths count. They gave us information we didn't have before, and perhaps a link to a weapon we will seize."
"I hope that is the case," Perill grumbled and turned away. I watched him walk out of my command center, his back stiff and his gait stilted. Eventually, he would get over this—he had to or the Prophet would watch him die.
Randl
Perhaps I should meditate then have a beer every night, I mused as I received my shooting lessons the following morning. All night, I'd dreamed I could fly, and so I'd flown over multitudes of forests, watching the green of tree tops blur past me, I was moving so swiftly.
I'd never had such dreams before—until then, the stars in my dreams had been the best ones I could recall. As a result, I had to force myself to focus on shooting at the target with my practice laser pistol, while Travis stood beside me, grinning whenever I hit the target at the center of its holographic chest.
I was hitting it more times than missing it, too, and he was quite happy with the results. "I can have you certified in no time," Travis' grin widened as I hit the target dead center. "How are your other studies coming along?"
"More than half done," I said before sighting the target, gripping the pistol firmly and holding my breath before releasing the single laser shot.
"Good. Does that mean you could pass the exams now on that material?"
"Probably—I have a good memory."
"You can designate which exams you want to take," he said. "When you pass them, you can move on to the next. Once you pass all of them, your records will be updated and your status and pay elevated."
"Is it possible to start training at hand-to-hand combat?" I asked. "Breaking out of holds is one thing, but I'd also like to defend myself if necessary."
"I can ask if Bekzi wants to train a beginner," Travis said. "He's actually good at that."
"I'd be happy to train with him," I agreed and fired another shot at the target. I didn't want to train with Sabrina—for obvious reasons. She was far ahead of me in self-defense, and it would be better for both of us if we weren't in close quarters.
I'd want to touch her instead of spar with her, and that would never do.
"You did pretty well with a pistol on Cord'ilus," Travis went on. "Kooper was very happy about that."
"It all happened so fast, I didn't think he'd have time to notice," I said. "I only hit three with any accuracy—not counting the dead ones, of course."
"Hmmph. Being in close quarters and having the enemy rush you like that—that's actually a pretty good result," Travis replied. "That's enough for now—clean your pistol and put it away. Lunch is almost ready."
"Good. I'm starved," I said and lowered my weapon. I'd eaten a huge breakfast, too, so it was a surprise to be as hungry as I was.
"Come on, then, get your stuff done and get to the galley." Travis gave me a grin before stalking toward the shooting range door.
"I heard you may have a real weapon soon," David set his lunch tray next to mine at the table I'd chosen.
"I have one," Wyatt grinned and joined us. "I take it everywhere."
"Yes, but you have diplomatic immunity," David said, pointing his fork at Wyatt.
"I know. I'll never catch diplomacy because I'm immune," Wyatt teased.
"Hey, nobody else is allowed a sense of humor at this table," David grumped. "Besides, it's meatloaf day. Stop ruining it for me."
"It is good meatloaf," I agreed and stuffed a chunk in my mouth to chew. Susan, Bekzi—amazing meatloaf, I sent to them.
We thank, Bekzi's shortened speech floated back. We train tomorrow.
Thank you, I returned. I'm grateful you're willing to do this for me.
Not worry, I teach. Tell David we have more meatloaf if he want.
"Bekzi says they have extra meatloaf if you want it," I informed David, who nodded because his mouth was full.
"We have a target," Travis appeared at our table. "Finish your food, we'll be on our way in half an hour."
Chapter 14
ASD Headquarters, Le-Ath Veronis
Kooper Griff
"It hasn't escaped me that Bornelus is less than a day's travel from Veechee," I told Lissa. Veechee was a concern, as it was the planet where Vrak had apparently hidden himself for at least two decades. The possibility of a connection between Veechee and Bornelus, the latter of which mirrored Cord'ilus' evenvironment, had certainly piqued my interest.
Lissa, Winkler, Drake and Drew had come when I sent a message to the palace. I'd already given orders for BlackWing X to head in Bornelus' direction, and they were on their way to that deserted world.
"And because there's an obsession on Vrak, we can't get anything from the bastard," Lissa grumbled. "He eats, sleeps and paces inside his cell. That's it."
"Do you think he has thoughts of his own?" I asked.
"He hasn't talked, so no idea," Lissa shrugged.
"He ought to be destroyed," Gavin rumbled. That verdict came as no surprise to me, since Gavin was vampire and more than two thousand years old.
"Honey, we'll get to that," Lissa rubbed his back. "He still may be of use to us. After all, he was important enough for somebody to destroy a ship because he wasn't on it."
"That's very true," I said. I hadn't considered how important that key to the puzzle might be. A part of me wanted to set Vrak down on Pyrik and follow wherever he went, but I considered that Opal and Kell had followed three others as mist and those three had disappeared beneath their noses.
So far, those same three hadn't appeared again, and that led me to believe they knew they were followed out of the restaurant. That didn't make me comfortable at all. Usually, nobody knew or suspected we were tailing them when Kell was mist.
"I'll keep you in the loop when BlackWing X begins its orbit around Bornelus."
"I have a lot of kin on that ship," Lissa reminded me.
"Don't I know it," I said.
BlackWing X
Randl
Bornelus. That was our destination. My research on that abandoned world hadn't provided much in the way of useful information. War and disease had killed it long ago, and nobody thought to repopulate for fear of the disease spreading. Currently, it was covered in trees, plants, animals—and nothing else, according to official reports.
ASD micro-bots had detected life forms which couldn't be attributed to normal wildlife; therefore, we were on our way.
The images included in the research materials were out of date, having been taken years earlier. Those only showed crumbling buildings and infrastructure, overcome by unchecked plant growth and the passage of time.
What I had found, however, was that Bornelus, like Cord'ilus, was on the list to be considered by the logging industry. Their scheduled date for visiting the planet was less than a month away.
Cord'ilus' scheduled date was in six months. I hoped the industry received information so they wouldn't arrive in Cord'ilus' air space, only to find the planet missing.
Veechee, where Vrak had boarded a pirate ship bound for Pyrik, was only a day
's travel from Bornelus. That fact hadn't escaped Travis and Trent—they'd likely gotten the information from Kooper.
The knock on my cabin door interrupted my research. Setting my comp-vid aside, I rose to answer it. Wyatt and David were outside. "Dude, come on or we'll be late for dinner," David said. "Jayna and Terrett are joining us tonight."
"Let me grab my jacket," I said.
Can you see through Jayna's disguise? I sent to Wyatt as we sat around the table, talking and laughing while we ate.
I can. She just doesn't know it.
It was something I'd already known—that Wyatt was interested in Jayna, but I hadn't said anything to anyone about it. Jayna wore a plain disguise for a reason—not only was she strikingly lovely beneath that disguise, but she was afraid of becoming close to most men.
Someone had frightened her when she was young, and she didn't trust many men as a result. Hiding behind her warlock-created disguise made her more comfortable, because most men wouldn't approach her due to her appearance—or what they perceived as her appearance.
Shallow, bumbling fools that they were.
"What will we do once we get to Bornelus?" Wyatt asked, pushing the salt toward Jayna's end of the table before she had to ask for it.
"Send out sensors to check for anything harmful before setting down on the planet," David said. "We'll know pretty fast whether we can go down or not. This time, we'll choose a clearing outside the largest city—we set down in the city on Cord'ilus and that's where we found the enemy last time."
"I didn't see any Sirenali with those we fought on Cord'ilus," Terrett commented. The moment he spoke he had everyone's attention, because he seldom said anything. It came from years of being unable to speak. "It makes me wonder how so many were hidden, so none could sense their presence."
"Did you miss us?" Travis asked. He, Trent and Sabrina arrived and pulled chairs up to our table.
"We were just discussing the absence of Sirenali on Cord'ilus, and the inability to sense most of the enemy anyway," Wyatt gave Travis a nod.
"Sirenali bones?" Trent asked.
MindSighted: BlackWing Pirates, Book 1 Page 19
