Voidhawk - Lost Soul

by Halstead, Jason

  Jenna snuggled against his body. “I’m only tough when the job calls for it,” she answered. “And because I’ve got you to keep me strong.”

  “So who keeps me strong?”

  She tilted her head up to press her lips to his. “You’re the legendary Captain Silvercloud. You’ve broken enemy ships with your bare hands and fended off armies of women throwing themselves at your feet. You’ve got strength enough for us all.”

  Dexter smirked at Jenna’s playful words. He shook his head, knowing the rumors she’d recounted were only a sample of the many that had grown over the years. They were more than exaggerations, they were blatant lies in most cases. He still enjoyed coming across new ones, though. “Speaking of women, there was a time when I’d never step foot on a ship with a crew full of women, let alone be the Captain!”

  “Don’t forget Xander.”

  Dexter snorted. “He’s a man wearing a dress.”

  “Wizard’s robes.”

  Dexter rolled his eyes.

  A gentle cough reminded them they weren’t alone. Sayara looked at them from her position on the comfortable chair that served as the ship’s helm. “Captain, I don’t mean to interrupt, but there’s another ship keeping up with us off our starboard.”

  Dexter turned and hurried over to the other window, disengaging himself from Jenna. She followed and, a moment later, they saw an elven racing ship in the distance. A light flashed from its deck, signaling a desire to close with them.

  “So much for leaving the throne behind,” Dexter said.

  Jenna frowned. “Ignore them,” she suggested.

  Dexter looked again, then shook his head. “See the symbols on the flag? One of the elven royals. I forget who, but he has a collection of yachts and other ships. This one’s been used to win the Soldarin Race several years in a row.”

  Jenna stared at it and grunted in recognition. “I didn’t think you could see that far.”

  “Ever since the Elders granted your wish I’ve noticed little things like that. I think they slipped a little elf into me.”

  Dexter had long since gotten used to his improved vision and sense of smell. He never seemed to catch a cold anymore either. All in all, he had nothing to complain about because of it.

  Jenna’s eyes widened. “I wonder if that means you’ll live longer?”

  Dexter chuckled. “What are the odds any of us will find out?”

  “So far we’ve done pretty good,” she persisted. “Some close calls but I’m hopeful.”

  “I’m hoping the same thing.” Dexter gave her a quick kiss then looked out the window again. “I got a hunch and it’s times like this I hate when that happens. Head on up and signal them back. We’ll talk.”

  “Aye aye, Captain,” Jenna winked at him.

  She turned and hurried away, giving Dexter another moment to be effectively alone on the bridge with his thoughts. His eyes fell on Sayara. It wasn’t the same, seeing her instead of Bekka sitting there. He knew Sayara was a great pilot – better than Bekka even, but he didn’t know if he could trust her. After the talk he and Jenna had, he supposed now was as good a time as any to find out.

  “Sayara?”

  “Aye, Captain?” Her voice was strained. He understood, splitting her concentration between the ship and him was difficult.

  “I trust it need not be said, but I’m saying it. Nothing you hear on this bridge goes anywhere, or your next boat will be a wooden board without a helm.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said. “I understand…and sir?”

  “What?”

  “I know only time will prove myself to you and the Emp—First Mate, but I want to say that there are many of us who are dedicated to you both. Devoted, even.”

  “Devoted?”

  “Aye, sir. The changes you’ve brought scared us all, but they’ve been wonderful as well. We may be a small number, but we understand and we’re eternally grateful!”

  Dexter nodded. He had the support of a small subset of elven women. It wasn’t his idea of an optimal army, but even with Jenna six years out of practice he doubted he could beat her in a fair fight. “Thank you, Sayara. Now pay attention, the ‘Hawk ain’t a tiny little elven flitter or scout ship that’ll let the gravity from another boat overpower it.”

  “Aye aye, Captain!” She snapped, a smile on her face.

  Dexter shook his head and headed for the deck, stopping by his cabin to grab his sword. He had a hunch a fight was brewing.

  * * * *

  “You don’t have a skiff?” The Captain of the Kimrowia called across the distance between his ship and the Voidhawk. Each ship carried an air bubble proportional to the mass of the vessel. The magic worked into each ship made it possible, although even a body floating in the void had a few minutes of breathable air around them.

  Merging atmospheres also merged gravity wells of a voidship. Generally the larger ship’s gravity plane overrode the smaller one, although ships similar in tonnage could have some effect on one another.

  “Never had much need,” Dexter replied. “This is a transport.”

  “What of the tales telling of the Voidhawk leading an army of warships into battle?”

  Dexter shrugged. “Didn’t have need of a skiff then, either.”

  Jenna coughed behind him, hiding her laugh. Dexter glanced around at the crew, noting each was in position should trouble erupt. Celia was furthest away, looking as though she wanted to be anywhere but the deck. Dexter felt his eyes narrow and the hunch he’d been toying with twisted his stomach.

  “Duke Elnossgorian seeks a parley with you, have you any means of transport?”

  “Xander!” Dexter snapped.

  The wizard stepped forward and pulled the sleeves of his robes up his arms. He raised his hands and incanted a spell quickly, his hands scribing the arcane formula in the air. A translucent silver disc took shape before him, easily six feet in diameter. Xander gestured his hand forward, sending the disc across the space between ships.

  “Neat trick,” Dexter admitted. Louder he called out, “Send the Duke over, my wizard says the disc will hold at least three or four people.”

  Xander snorted beside him, his only outward show if irritation at how Dexter could conjure up conversations from thin air.

  Two of the men on the deck moved to the disc and stood on it, their backs turned to the Voidhawk. A third emerged from the cabin and joined them. Dexter gave Xander a nod, prompting the wizard to call the disc back across the void.

  As they approached Dexter studied the men. The first two were thugs, although well dressed and equipped ones. Duke Elnossgorian would call them his personal guards, and Dexter had no doubt they were, but from where he came from they were little more than ruffians. The Duke had the obvious attitude of traditional elven royalty. Dexter hadn’t met him before, but the expression on Jenna’s told him the man behaved exactly as he looked.

  Moments later the disc hovered inches above the Voidhawk’s deck, allowing the three elves to step off of it and face Dexter directly. “Captain Silvercloud,” the Duke greeted him with a slight nod.

  Dexter noted that the Duke made no mention of his title as Admiral of the Elven Navy. “The ‘Hawk’s a fine ship, Duke, but she’s no match in a race against that sloop of yours.”

  The Duke glanced back at his ship. “Quite,” he said. “I’ve no interest in a race, Captain. I fear I’ve come for other matters. Matters I have little time to trifle with. It’s come to my attention that you have something of mine. I want it back.”

  Dexter stiffened. “Been a while since I’ve heard words like that. Out here in open space that’s a bold claim, especially seeing that you’re on my ship and amongst my crew.”

  Jenna stepped forward. “Duke Elnossgorian, we have nothing of yours nor any need of it. You’re holding up our voyage and—”

  “Do you let all of your crew treat you so disrespectfully?” the Duke asked, interrupting Jenna. “I wonder, she sat the throne for a short time, is she the power behin
d the helm as well?”

  Dexter smiled at the elf while he fought to keep his hand from sliding towards his pistol. “Funny how ships and women work, don’t you think? They both have minds of their own at times. If you treat them right and take care of them, they’ll be faithful to you in ways you can’t imagine, even if there’s a squeak here and there along the way.”

  “As for your claims, I’ll caution you to mind your tongue. In the void there’s one law that no one dares to question, and that’s who runs a ship. Even as Admiral of the Elven Navy I got no right overriding the orders of a Captain on his vessel. Unless, of course, I happen to be the Captain.”

  The Duke’s eyes narrowed, then strayed briefly to where Celia was hiding behind some barrels. “Was not the throne abdicated?”

  Dexter glanced at Jenna only long enough to see the redness of her face. “Aye, the Empress had better things to do than babysit a bunch of fool nobles. In all the rush, I never turned over my commission as Admiral. And since no member of the new council has been sent to inform me otherwise, you’d best be on your way before I have my wizard send a message to the Navy informing them to be on the watch for a pretty little racing yacht.”

  The Duke’s nostrils flared. “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “All this empty void around me and you want to dare me?” Dexter chuckled. “Duke, it’s time for you to go back to your boat.”

  “Not without what’s mine!” He hissed. He pointed at Celia. “My daughter.”

  Dexter turned to stare at the girl. She stepped out from the barrels but made no move to come forward. Dexter motioned for her, studying her more closely as she approached. Most elves looked young to him, but now he wondered if he’d made the mistake of hiring someone too young.

  “Is this true?” Dexter asked once she stood near them.

  Her eyes studied the deck. “Aye Captain, my name is Celia Elnossgorian.”

  “How many cycles you seen, Celia?” Dexter asked, referring to the standard period of 365 days most worlds counted as a year.

  “Twenty one.”

  Dexter’s eyes widened. At that age he’d been on his own for half his life and doing fine, even if some of his friends thought otherwise. He frowned and turned to Jenna. “Elves got an age limit on when they can run off and try something stupid?”

  She shook her head. Dexter noted the only spot on her face that wasn’t red was her jaws, where she had them tightly clenched. Jenna stepped behind Celia and put a protective hand on each shoulder. She forced her jaw to relax and said, “Remember, Jianna is half elf, she’s maturing at the rate of a human, not an elf. At her age most are learning a trade, either at school or under a master. Or, in the old days, a noble or merchant girl might serve as a lady in waiting trying to catch the eye of a wealthy noble.”

  “There you have it,” the duke said. “She’s not ready to be on her own yet.”

  “Reckon that all depends,” Dexter said. “She seemed awful keen on helping out on the ‘Hawk. Said she could do anything, and had experience to boot. Might be this is the right place for her to learn.”

  “Captain, I’ll take her on as an apprentice,” Jenna offered. She stared directly at the Duke, a subtle curl of her lip daring him to challenge her.

  The duke’s eyes flared. “What? No! Celia, you must come back. You have responsibilities!”

  Celia twisted her head around to look at Jenna. “The Soldarin Race is coming up and he needs me.”

  Jenna’s lips parted in shock. She turned to glare at the duke. Dexter stepped forward, blocking her line of sight with the noble. “There you have it, she’s got a mentor and a promising trade lined up. What more could a good father can ask for? Now we’ve a long journey ahead of us and I can’t be sure how far or how long my wizard can keep that disc together.”

  His own cheeks flaring red with anger, Duke Elnossgorian turned and climbed back onto the disk. His goons joined him. As Xander started to send it back he said, “I suppose you’re right, Captain. I should be thankful that my child has the opportunity to learn and excel.”

  Dexter stiffened at the play on words. Did the duke know something about Jia? He stared, ignoring the gasp from Jenna. It was common knowledge what had happened to her – or at least that something had happened to her. Only a few hours had passed but word spread quickly, especially when no attempt to hide the assassination attempt had been made.

  Still he waited until the disk was within a few feet of the elven ship. “That’s enough,” Dexter said. “Let’s get back under sail.”

  “Captain?” Xander asked, confused. Did Dexter really want him to dispel the disk before they reached their ship?

  “Aye, save your strength. We’ve got work to do and I need you to figure out where we’re going.”

  “But—”

  “Drop that damned disk!” Dexter hissed, turning to glare at him.

  Xander swallowed and made a motion with his hands, sending the arcane energies back to the ether whence they’d come. Dexter turned back in time to see the three men plunging to the gravity plane that ran along the horizontal center of the ship. Once they fell through the invisible field gravity reversed, pulling them back towards it.

  Their screams for help carried across the distance with ease. Dexter’s fury was replaced with a grin and then a chuckle. He turned, seeing the stunned expressions on the faces of his crew. Jenna shook her head and let loose a laugh as well, but none of them could match the excitement of Trilliana’s wide eyes.

  Xander caught the elven witch’s gaze and felt himself stripped bare by it. There was an obvious hunger in her eyes. He broke away from it and snapped out orders to resume their course. Shaking his head in an attempt to convince himself he hadn’t seen the lust in Xander’s apprentice’s eyes, he hurried to the room he and Jenna shared to give himself some peace.

  Chapter 4

  Dexter was sitting at the small table in his cabin, toying with a cup half filled with elven ale. He sighed when he heard a knock at the door. He knew the conversation Jenna wanted to have and he wanted to put it off as long as possible. Finding Jianna was his top priority. His only priority, in fact. To the void with what others expected.

  “Yeah,” he called out.

  The door opened and Jenna entered, followed closely by Celia. “Captain, I figured you’d want another word with Miss Elnossgorian.”

  “What is it with elves and all these damnable names?” Dexter mused. “Mind if I just call you Celia?”

  She blushed and nodded, looking everywhere but at him.

  “She claimed she needed to talk to you too, Captain.”

  Dexter drained the ale in his cup and stood up. “All right, out with it. You’ve flown that racing yacht of your father’s?”

  She nodded. “I’ve always been good with sailing, sir.” Her voice had taken on a subdued quality. “If you’d like, I’ve been looking about your ship and found some things we can do to make it faster.”

  Dexter looked at Jenna, noting he sly grin. He returned his attention to Celia. “That’s why you wanted to see me? To tell me the ‘Hawk’s not the fastest ship in the void?”

  “No, sir. I mean yes, but no. I wanted to apologize. For my father, and for not telling you.” She rubbed her hands together nervously.

  “That’s a start,” he said. He took a deep breath and let it go, trying to forcing his irritation out with it. “So you’re fast and you’re good with ships. Kind of young, don’t you think? The man who put this ship back together and made it what it is was four times your age, and a dwarf to boot. He was a master shipwright, you’re a spoiled kid with a wealthy fop for a father.”

  Celia backed away, her eyes going to Jenna for help. “Dex,” Jenna said, her tone promising more to come.

  He held up his hands to stop her. “My daughter’s spoiled and I happen to think she’s pretty damn special. By the time she’s old enough to do what you’re doing, I expect she’ll be turning heads, too.” Dexter ran his hand down the wall. “Willa was younge
r than you. Human, but younger. She was a slave when we found her, dancing with death. Took a priest to bring her back and Kragor took to her, taught her what she needed to know with none of us being the wiser. I reckon if she could do that, then maybe you can, too.”

  Celia’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears for a moment, then they overflowed and spilled down her cheeks. She stepped forward and threw her arms around Dexter, squeezing him tight. Dexter grunted and looked at Jenna, his eyes wide. Jenna bit her lip, struggling to hold back a laugh.

  “I’m sorry, Captain,” she whispered into his shirt. He’d changed it since his last run in with a sobbing woman, but he worried he might run out of clothes soon.

  “No need for that,” Dexter mumbled. “And there’s no crying on my ship, get the ruffles out of your sails, we’ve got work to do.”

  “No, I mean…I’m sorry about this,” she said.

  “What?” Dexter felt that familiar twist in his stomach telling him something was about to go horribly wrong. It preceded a sharp prick in his back. His body gasped but he’d already been pulled into a tunnel of colors and lights.

  * * * *

  “Dex!” Jenna yelped when he collapsed to the floor, his greater mass pulling free of Celia’s arms. She rushed over to him and all but fell on top of him. She grabbed him and pulled him over so he leaned against the other door in their room that led to the bridge. “Dex, are you okay? What happened? Dexter? Dex? Dex!”

  His face was slack and his mouth gaped open. His eyes stared past her, beyond the walls of their room. She backed away, letting go and watching as he slid over and collapsed on his side. Their bed hit her in the back of the legs, forcing her legs to buckle. She sat down on it, catching herself with her arms, then stared at her husband. Her mouth opened and closed but no words came out.