The conversation lasted a few hours as they had to explain in detail some of the reasons behind their decisions. Finally he seemed satisfied with the information he’d received and was ready to leave. “Before I go, I would like you to give this to the captain,” he said as he placed a small metal disk on the table.
Daemon picked it up and inspected it. The disk had a strange symbol carved into one side, while the other was blank. The disk was only about an inch in diameter and an eighth of an inch thick, but it was heavy for its size. “He’s going to want to know what it’s for,” Daemon remarked
“Since the captain was intelligent enough to leave us be, I’ve decided offer him a little help. If he ever finds himself in trouble in what you call jump space, all he needs to do is place one drop of blood on that medallion and I’ll come rescue him,” the ancient explained.
“I know what you are going to ask,” the ancient said as he turned to face Angelica. “My payment will be the life energy of whatever is attacking the captain.”
The ancient didn’t wait for any other questions. He vanished with a soft pop as the air collapsed into the space he’d just been occupying.
***
“Captain, the intruder is gone,” Lieutenant Nicholson reported from the combat bridge, a mix of confusion and relief in his voice.
“Maintain general quarters and get me Lady Grayson on the intercom,” Captain Zeler ordered.
“Yes, captain,” Lt Nicholson replied as he buzzed the stateroom where Angelica and Daemon had been conversing with the ancient. Angelica had guessed the captain would want to talk once the ancient had left.
“Lady Grayson is on the intercom,” Lt Nicholson informed the captain.
“Captain Zeler, the creature has left and I do not expect him to return,” Angelica informed him.
“I would like to discuss our visitor in detail. Please meet me in my cabin. I’ll send Lieutenant Nicholson to escort you,” Captain Zeler instructed, making it clear that even though he’d asked, refusing was not really an option.
Lt Nicholson stopped at the captain’s door and knocked twice. The captain replied with instructions to enter. Lt. Nicholson led the siblings into the captain’s cabin and stepped to the side to stand at attention. Angelica had decided not to use her calming aura, which she found was more difficult than she’d expected. She’d been using the power so much and for so long that it took a conscious effort not to. Daemon was relaxed. He expected the captain was going to yell at them for the ancient’s visit, even though he had no control over it. He was used to being yelled at and he didn’t expect this time to be much different.
The captain was seated at his desk when the group started to file in. He stood and waited as the siblings moved to the two chairs near his desk. “Please be seated,” Captain Zeler offered as he sat back down, leaving Lt. Nicholson the only one standing.
“Would you like me to leave, captain?” Lt. Nicholson asked.
“No. I think as XO you should hear what we are about to discuss. I’ve only been on one other vessel that was boarded while in jump space. The creature that attacked us killed a lot of good, experienced fighting men before it was finally stopped,” Captain Zeler started to explain. He took a sip of the scotch he’d poured before they’d entered and continued: “When the intruder alert sounded, I expected that a lot, if not all, of my crew were about to die. What came on board, and why didn’t it attack?”
“We’ve met the creature that visited us before. Daemon beat one of its companions in a fight and gained its respect. It’s one of the few intelligent members of its race. The species it belongs to is capable of becoming very powerful psionics,” Angelica explained.
“I don’t believe you. I don’t care how good your brother is in a fight—there is no way he beat one of those creatures. So please, I need the truth,” Captain Zeler stated in no mood to listen to lies.
“I can’t tell you. All I can say is that we’ve met him before,” Angelica replied.
“You’re telling me you made friends with it?” Captain Zeler asked, disbelieving what he was hearing.
“I wouldn’t go that far. It is interested in us for some reason, enough to talk to us instead of just killing us,” Angelica continued.
“Have you learned anything about them?” Captain Zeler asked, hoping to learn how to better avoid having another creature enter his ship.
“Not much. Only that they can travel anywhere in jump space but tend to stay near populated planets. The only reason there aren’t more occurrences of them attacking ships is that they don’t notice the ships entering jump space. It did occur to me that if one of their kind ever figured out where a jump point was, it would be able to attack every ship that used it.”
“That’s a disturbing idea,” Lieutenant Nicholson commented.
“Yes, I will have to discuss changing jump points with the Admiralty. They’ll be very interested in learning this. I would guess that they may have a few questions for you if you’re willing,” Captain Zeler told Angelica, not realizing that Daemon knew a lot more about the topic.
“Captain, the creature asked me to give this to you. It’s a reward for not attacking him,” Daemon said as he placed the medallion on the desk.
Captain Zeler looked at it with suspicion before asking, “What is it?”
“He said that if you ever get boarded in jump space again and need to be rescued, all you need to do is place one drop of blood on the face of the medallion and he’ll come and kill the intruder for you,” Daemon explained.
“Captain, I will talk to the admiralty if I have to, but I’d prefer to keep the knowledge of our contact with the jump creatures as confidential as possible. The crew may spread rumors but a formal meeting with the admiralty is a lot harder to deny,” Angelica told the captain as he looked more closely at the medallion.
“I understand and will pass along your concerns,” Captain Zeler replied only half paying attention to what she’d said. His mind was on the medallion and what to do with it.
“I think that’ll be all for now. Lieutenant, come back here once you have shown the Graysons back to their cabin.”
“Yes, captain,” Lt Nicholson replied before opening the door back into the passageway. Lt. Nicholson had heard the stories about monsters attacking ships in jump space, but like most people he hadn’t believed them. Now he had not only witnessed a boarding but knew two people who’d actually talked to one of the monsters.
***
Chapter 7
A Little Knowledge Is Dangerous
A few days later, Sam and Alan entered Cathleen’s cautiously, nervous about what they were going to find. Mystique had asked them to find out all they could about the place and the people that worked there, which meant something was probably dangerous. Neither of them had ever been to a fortune teller before. They’d assumed like most other people that it was all fake, but Mystique had told them this place had real power.
The interior was set up like a small shop with shelves and display cases lining the walls and a few tables with displays set up on them. The boys looked around and spotted an old-style cash register on the counter near the back of the store. A girl in her mid-teens with long jet-black hair was sitting on a stool reading a book near the register. She was wearing an off-white dress that looked two or three sizes too big for her. Sam turned and started looking around at the various books while Alan made his way to the counter.
“Twenty credits for a ten-minute reading, or fifty for a full reading,” the girl said as Alan reached the counter. The girl never looked up from her book, giving Alan the impression she didn’t care what he wanted.
“How do I know the readings are legit and you’re not a fake?” Alan asked, having decided to play the part of a skeptical customer.
“Cost you twenty credits to find out. Rich kid like you can afford twenty credits,” the girl said, finally taking the time to look up at Alan. She must have seen something in him because without warning she jumped back off the st
ool. Her dress got caught up in the stool, causing it to fall over and almost trip the girl. Alan instinctively moved forward, reaching out to help the young lady.
“Stay away from me. MOM!” the girl yelled loud enough for people on the street outside to hear. “You keep away from me.”
Alan froze, not understanding what was going on. Sam had gotten distracted reading the titles of the data chips in one of the displays. The sound of the girl yelling at Alan got his attention. Sam stood where he was and watched as Alan put his hands up and stepped back.
“What is it, Carla?” asked a woman as she stepped out of the back room. The woman was barely over five feet tall but had to weigh well over two hundred pounds. She had the same jet-black hair as her daughter but that was the only similarity between the two. The woman was holding a large pistol in her right hand and after a quick look at Alan, she brought it up to aim it at his face. Alan stood very still, his eyes locked on the barrel of the pistol. Sam thought about running but resisted the urge; instead, he turned to face the confrontation.
“Hands up where I can see them and step back,” the woman instructed Alan. He did as instructed slowly moving back but never taking his eyes off the barrel of the pistol.
“All right. You over there, get your hands up too and get over next to your friend,” she told Sam, using her pistol as a pointer. Carla felt safer now that her mother was present and pulled a pistol of her own from beneath the register. She didn’t point it at the boys but she did hold it up and ready to aim. Her pistol was also a semi-automatic. It was much smaller than her mother’s but still intimidating.
“Why did it send you here? What does your demon master want?” the woman asked once the boys were standing where she wanted them. The boys slowly looked at each other, amazed that the woman knew they were there because of Shektee. What’d Mystique not told them?
“She just told us to look around and to find out who was here,” Sam blurted out when the woman stamped her foot.
“Where is it?” the woman demanded.
“She’s at the—” was all Sam was able to say before Alan elbowed him in the side.
“Shut up! She’ll kill us or worse,” Alan reminded his friend. Alan was visibly shaking.
“She can’t hurt you here. There are ancient wards up to keep her kind out. No demon can come within fifty feet of this place,” the woman said with pride.
“Fine, but Mystique’s not a demon,” Alan replied, refusing to calm down.
“Who’s Mystique?”
“She’s a freak from school. She’s a killer with bio-augmentations and now she’s working with some demonic bitch,” Sam blurted out while fending off Alan’s attempts to stop him.
“Do you have a way of contacting her?”
“Yeah,” Sam replied. Alan seemed to give up and sat down where he was. He couldn’t believe they had gotten into so much trouble. “I have her phone number.”
“Call her and hand me the phone. I want to talk to her,” the woman instructed.
Sam slowly pulled out his cell phone and called the number Mystique had given him. Mystique answered on the third ring. Sam didn’t bother to say anything and instead just held the phone out. Carla stepped out from behind the counter and took the phone. She could hear Mystique asking for Sam. She quickly handed the phone to her mother and turned back to cover the boys while her mother talked to Mystique.
“This is Cathleen Ziegler. I have your two cohorts. If you ever want to see them alive again, you’ll come to my shop immediately,” Cathleen threatened.
“So you can kill me too? I don’t think so. You can go ahead and kill them for all I care, but you may want to figure out what you’re going to tell the police before you do,” Mystique replied with no sign of emotion in her voice. “All I care about is the spell you’re using to guard your store.”
“You’ll never get me to take it down,” Cathleen stated in defiance.
“I don’t care about that. I want to know how you created it, the symbols and language you used. If you explain it to me, I won’t hurt you,” Mystique replied, hoping she could reason with Cathleen.
“I’ll never help a demon or one of its servants,” Cathleen stated as she stood her ground.
“She serves me and, if it makes you feel more cooperative, think of it as the only chance that you and the girl behind the counter have of staying alive.” Mystique thought to negotiate with Cathleen, but her lack of skill and understanding of basic human emotions only made matters worse.
“You come anywhere near my Carla and I’ll kill you,” Cathleen screamed at the phone. When she put the phone back to her ear, Cathleen was surprised to find Mystique had hung up. Cathleen looked at Sam and Alan to gauge their reactions. She was not convinced of their innocence and before she could decide what to do with them, an alarm sounded next door.
Cathleen told Carla to watch them as she went to see what was going on. It didn’t occur to Cathleen that Mystique was watching from nearby. So she didn’t think twice about leaving Carla alone in the shop with Sam and Alan. She knew her daughter was proficient with her pistol and wouldn’t let the boys get the drop on her. Cathleen left the shop and headed two stores to the right to Mike’s Lock Shop.
Mystique watch the woman leave. She was still carrying the big pistol, but she wasn’t looking around. Bruce would be upset if Mystique allowed Cathleen to hurt his friends so she’d decided to help them escape. It also gave her a chance to show Cathleen how dangerous she was.
Mystique slipped up to the shop and peeked through the display window. She saw Carla standing behind the counter while Sam and Alan were out in the middle of the shop. Sam was standing while Alan was for some reason sitting. She was going to have to talk to Bruce. These two had to leave town until her business was done. They were incompetent and they knew enough to jeopardize her mission. Carla looked relaxed so Mystique decided to go with a Daemon-style frontal assault.
Mystique pulled two throwing spikes for each hand and stepped into the doorway. In one fluid motion she did a snap kick to the doorframe just above the handle. Cathleen hadn’t thought to lock the door, so only a small latch was holding it shut. The force of Mystique’s kick sent the door flying open and crashing into the display case next to it. The sudden noise startled everyone inside. Mystique flicked her left hand, sending two throwing spikes at the pistol in Carla’s hand. Carla almost dropped the pistol as the spikes ricocheted off it.
“Sam, take Alan and get out of here,” Mystique ordered as she charged toward Carla. Carla was quickly regaining her wits and fixing her grip on her pistol. Carla didn’t wait to make sure she had a proper grip; as soon as she thought she could hit Mystique, she fired. Mystique was watching her progress and started dodging left even before Carla fired. The bullet still tore a hole through Mystique’s blouse and burned off a few layers of skin. Mystique barely noticed the sudden pain in her side. She threw one of the two spikes in her right hand, holding firmly to the last spike.
Carla screamed as the spike sliced a deep gash into her forearm before finally sticking in the muscle near her elbow. Carla instinctively ducked behind the counter, allowing Mystique the time to cover the last few steps and leap over the counter. Mystique grabbed the counter top to lever herself around, making sure to land on top of Carla. Mystique had to be careful not to hurt Carla too badly—that would ruin any chance of negotiating with Cathleen. Carla tried to hold onto the pistol as Mystique came crashing down on her.
The spike in Carla’s forearm shifted, tearing muscle and tissue as it did. Mystique flattened herself over Carla, restricting her movements as she grabbed for Carla’s hand and the pistol. Mystique didn’t bother trying to wrench the pistol from Carla’s grip; instead she just held both, keeping Carla from being able to aim the pistol at her. Once she’d neutralized the threat of the pistol, Mystique flipped the last spike and pressed the blunt end into Carla’s windpipe.
“Stop struggling,” Mystique ordered in a calm, emotionless voice. Carla wanted t
o keep fighting, but knew it would only get her hurt, so she forced herself to relax and lie still.
“Good. Now release the pistol.” Carla hesitated, so Mystique applied a little pressure to the spike. Carla understood the threat and dropped the pistol to the floor. Mystique released her hold on Carla’s hand and picked up the pistol.
“Tell Cathleen that I will call her later to discuss a deal. I’ve been nice so far, but I am running out of patience,” Mystique told Carla as she cautiously climbed to her feet.
Mystique knew she didn’t have much time before Cathleen returned, so she quickly hopped back over the counter and ran out of the shop. She only slowed a little as she placed Carla’s pistol on one of the display tables. Mystique barely took the time to glance at the traffic in the road before sprinting across and into the alley on the other side where Shektee was anxiously waiting.
***
Cathleen ran down the sidewalk, stopping just short of Mike’s. She peeked through his front window. The alarm siren was still sounding its cry for help, making it hard for Cathleen to concentrate. She couldn’t see anyone in the store. The place looked empty so she carefully moved to the front door and opened it. A chime sounded and announced her entry.
Cathleen slowly moved into Mike’s. She recited a chant her mother had taught her many years ago, one that she said would keep the bad spirits away, as she looked around. She’d always thought it was just a story to cheer up a scared little girl, but now she prayed it really worked. The pistol in her hand was comforting, but if the stories were true it wouldn’t stop a demon.
The door to the back room was slightly open so Cathleen moved up to it so she could push it open with her shoulder while aiming her pistol past it. Cathleen had to put some force into pushing the door open. The room was dark, so Cathleen reached over and turned on the lights. She took a breath, steeling herself for the sight of Ron’s dead body. What she saw surprised her. Ron was tied to a armchair with tape across his mouth. His head was hanging down and Cathleen couldn’t tell if he was alive or not. Without thinking, Cathleen raced across the room to help her friend.
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