Empire Saga: The Fight for the Paradise, #1

by Lori Beery

  “I feel great!” she replied.

  “Wonderful!” I told her. “KwinJai, would you like to test the fighter?”

  “I sure would,” he told me enthusiastically. He reached for the control and began putting the fighter through its paces. It was not long before he had the vessel zooming around the common room.

  “Lucera would you ‘image’ six more of the toys?” I asked.

  “Sure!” she exclaimed. “Can I do it one after the other? Or do you want me to do all six at once?”

  “I think you could do all six,” I responded. “But let us be cautious. Try doing two at once.”

  “Okay,” she acknowledged. She doubled the image placing them side by side. Her eyes lost their focus as she began drawing on the crystal. She executed the ‘make-it-real’ step a moment later. Two toys with their controllers materialized side-by-side in the center of the table.

  “Jacarr, Marleah go ahead and test them,” I said. Each of them collected a toy. They moved to the other side of the room and started learning to control them. Looking to Lucera I said, “Ready to ‘image’ the remaining four?”

  “I am,” she confirmed. She doubled the images again. She arranged them in a square formation. Then, her blue eyes went vague for a moment as she drew the power thread. She ‘imaged’ four toy fighters and a control unit. They appeared in a square in the middle of the table.

  “Excellent!” I praised. “How do you feel?”

  “I feel good,” she replied. “I am just beginning to feel a little tired, not enough to want to stop, though.”

  “Good to know,” I told her. Looking around at those of us still at the table, I said, “Let’s take some time to learn how to fly these toys.” We each clamed a fighter and its controller. Then, we began testing. After a turn, we each mastered the process. We could each lift the fighter from the floor, hover it over a spot, fly it at full speed around the room, and then flip the engine, reversing the direction to continue flying the opposite way. “It looks like you all have the hang of it,” I commented. There were happy, affirmative replies. “Good,” I added. “Bring your fighters in and land them in a triangle – one in the front, two in the next row, and three in the last row. Form up on mine.” We each landed our fighters on the floor in front of the settee. My fighter was nearest the vid player. Marleah’s toy was right behind mine. The rest were arranged behind hers in the triangle. “Now comes the fun part,” I told them. “We are going to lift off. Fly up and to the right. Hover over the table. Then, fly a slow curving path to the right coming back to this spot. We will stay in formation the entire way.”

  “How will we know when to execute each move?” asked KwinJai.

  “A reasonable question,” I told him with a smile. His face screwed up in consternation when I didn’t add anything else.

  “Can we link minds?” inquired Dulain.

  “Wouldn’t that be cheating?” I asked. “Try it using only visual cues.”

  “We’ll probably all crash,” murmured KwinJai.

  “That is a possibility,” I agreed. “Everyone ready to give this a try?” They responded with muttered uncertainty.

  I began by lifting off. They followed suit. We slowly flew the flight path. The triangle elongated when I began flying. It scrunched up when we hovered. Before we went to the next move, I gave them time to correct their placement. All in all, they did pretty well.

  “Was it perfectly done?” I asked them. They shook their heads. “You are right. But you did manage to fly the path without crashing into each other. Also, you kept in some semblance of a triangle.”

  “Can we try it again?” asked Lucera. “Maybe we would do better.”

  “I’m sure you would,” I told her. “But, I have something else in mind.” Turning to include all of them, I said, “I want you to work out how your fighter’s controller functions so that you can replace it with your psi abilities. Let me demonstrate. When I do this with the controller, the fighter lifts.” I used the devise to get the craft to lift. “If I trace the electronics the controller uses, I know which ones cause this effect. I release the controller like so and the fighter lands.” I manipulated the devise to land the ship. I placed the controller on the floor beside me. “If I activate the circuits like so, the fighter lifts. It hovers. And it lands.” This time I substituted my psi abilities to control the toy.

  “That’s cool!” blurted Dulain. “Let me give it a try.” He spent a few moments working the controller and tracing circuits. Presently he reached out with his mind and activated the correct electronics. The little craft rose from the ground. It hovered a meter above the ground. Then, it floated back to the floor.

  “Very nice,” I praised him. He flashed me a boyish grin before he bent to finish the task of replacing the controller.

  The others started their assignment. They methodically learned how the controller functioned. Then, they worked to replace the hand held devise. They didn’t need any further assistance from me. So I proceeded to replace my own controller. When I finished, I began practicing flying my craft. It wasn’t too long before their ships joined mine. We tried flying the flight path from the earlier exercise. This time we did it perfectly. We kept our fighters in tight formation. We accomplished the entire exercise at a faster speed. When we landed our ships, I called a halt to our practice session.

  “Lucera, go ahead and drop your images,” I instructed. She complied and the little fighters and controllers vanished. “Beltrain will you remove the ward and, Dulain, would you get rid of the polar array?”

  “Of course,” they both replied. I felt the tingle of the ward as it retreated over and below me. The polar array vanished from sight.

  “That was great!” exclaimed KwinJai.

  “It was fun!” agreed Marleah. “Who knew learning could be so fun?”

  “Can we do this again tomorrow?” asked Jacarr.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” I said smiling.

  “Erm, that’s quite a mischievous smile, Nickoli,” observed Dulain. “What are you planning?”

  I laughed and told him, “More fun!”

  I noticed it was late. The dining hall would be serving desert. If we wanted to go out for food, Deck 2 would be the best bet. This was strange; it was past dinner time, but KwinJai was not focused on filling his stomach. He must have really enjoyed today’s practice session.

  “Is anybody hungry?” I asked.

  “Now that you mention it, I am”, replied Jacarr.

  “Me too!” chorused Lucera and KwinJai. The other three made agreeing sounds.

  “Good,” I said. “Let’s head down to Deck 2.” We headed out.

  Chapter 12

  Later that night, I found it difficult to sleep. My mind keep presenting scenarios we could use to eliminate the pirate threat. Too many of them had me on the offensive. Such strategies implied my actions would result in the death of a lot of people. That was not a position I wanted to find myself in. When I acted, I wanted to be on the defensive. I considered myself a protector. The question became who do I protect? Am I a defender of the Empire? Given the current situation, my being a Hexator with a Hexacle aboard an Imperial passenger vessel, who am I responsible for? I easily answered this with everyone aboard the Paradise. What if the pirates do attack the station? Does it depend on my location? Or am I responsible for any Imperial holding I can protect? What happens when we get to Dinave? Is the reserve more important than the planet? Or am I responsible for the entire world? A case could be made for both perspectives. As a Healer, I opted for the choice that protected the most people. I groaned. This type of self-debate always made my head hurt.

  I was interrupted by a tap at the door. I rose and opened it. Before me stood Lucera. Her eyes and face were stained by tears. Concern filled me.

  “Lucera, what is it?” I asked her gently.

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” she forced out. “I had my nightmare, again.”

  “You did?” I inquired surprised. I checked
the trigger I had set to alert me when this occurred. It was in place. It showed no sign of being activated. “My alarm wasn’t tripped,” I told her as I drew her into an embrace. “I’m sorry I didn’t come and awaken you. Did it seem any different than in the past?”

  She pushed away enough to look me in the eyes. She was frowning. “It didn’t seem as vivid as it did before,” she told me. “I felt the terror and knew my parents were trapped. But, the pictures didn’t seem as clear.”

  “That’s interesting,” I responded. “Perhaps learning how to use the imager gift means you are less likely to accidently trigger it. So… your nightmare stays just a nightmare.”

  “I hope that is the case,” she murmured.

  “Me too,” I told her with a smile. “Shall we go get something warm to drink?”

  “That sounds good,” she answered, wiping her tears away. We walked to the dining table with my arm around her shoulders and her arm around my back. I pulled out a chair for her. She sat.

  I leaned to her side and asked, “What will it be?”

  “A hot chocolate,” she answered, more in control of herself.

  “Hot chocolate coming right up,” I said as I walked to the food replicator. I ordered one for both of us. When the drinks appeared, I carried them to the table. I set one in front of her and the other before the seat beside her for me.

  As I seated myself she said, “That smells good.”

  “It tastes pretty good too,” I told her after I took a sip. She smiled and tasted hers.

  “Yes, it does,” she responded with a little smile. We sat in companionable silence while we drank the warm drinks.

  Presently I asked her, “Would you like to talk about it?”

  She nodded. Then she questioned me, “Do you think my nightmare will continue to fade?”

  “That has not been my experience,” I told her. “My nightmare is still pretty vivid. I can clearly see the faces of my parents and the others involved. The scenes continue to look real. – I will admit that the line between nightmare and memory is hard to separate.”

  “Still very scary and painful,” she stated.

  “It is,” I agreed. “What I can tell you is that I don’t have it as often.”

  “That’s a relief!” she exclaimed. After a brief pause she asked, “So what happened to you after your parents died? Did you live with relatives?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “My grandfather took us in.”

  “Was he alone?” she inquired.

  “Yes, my grandmother passed away before my father married,” I answered. “I was told she died from a disease the healers could not save her from.”

  “That must have been a terrible sickness,” she speculated.

  “I was told it was,” I said. “I was told many people died from it. My grandmother had been one of one hundred thousand.”

  “That is sad,” she commented.

  “What happened to you right after the fire?” I inquired.

  “My father’s brother and his wife took me in right after the tragedy,” she said. “After a few months of me constantly having my nightmare and them smelling smoke in the house, they had me tested for gifts. My imager gift was discovered. My aunt and uncle passed me off to my mother’s side of the family. I lived with each of my mother’s sibling’s family for a few months each. That is, until my mother’s youngest brother learned about the Hexator complex. Before too long I became one of the youngest students at the complex. My studies kind of stalled. They kept trying to teach me to ‘image,’ but I didn’t know how and neither did they. After a while, I started to feel more like a test subject than a student. I probably would have officially become a test subject if you had not arrived.”

  “Lucera, I’m glad we met,” I assured her, locking my gaze on hers. “You are a very gifted young lady who I hope never feels like a test subject or a monster ever again. I’m sorry you experienced such fear and alienation from your relatives and the Complex. You are a valuable member of my Hexacle. Don’t ever forget that.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you,” she sobbed, dropping her gaze to her mug. After a moment she asked, “How did you know I felt like a monster?” She restored eye contact with me.

  “People with abilities that others don’t understand often are made to feel that way,” I told her. “My grandfather had me tested for gifts shortly after we arrived in his house. It was a very unpleasant and painful ordeal for me. In any case, he discovered the healer gift and the Hexator gift. But since I was very young, he sent me to a boarding school to be taught basic control and non-gift subjects like reading, writing, math, science, philosophy, and ethics. I excelled. And I discovered several psi abilities accidently. The most disconcerting was teleportation.”

  “That’s a pretty advanced skill!” Lucera interjected.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “Given my age, I should not have been able to do it. I tried to keep it a secret. But I made a grave mistake. I was bored in my ethics class one day. I started day-dreaming about a glade in the nearby forest. I knew it well. I escaped there, especially when I was feeling homesick. Anyway, the next thing I knew, I had teleported myself out of class to that forest glade. Since I didn’t want to cause more of a disturbance by popping back into class, I choose to walk back. By the time I returned to campus, the place was in a tizzy. I was ushered before the teachers; they had to investigate the incident. To make a long story short, I felt like a monster by the time all was said and done.”

  “That’s awful!” Lucera responded. “Did they punish you as well?”

  “I was treated as though I had skipped class,” I replied. “So yes.”

  “Did they move you to a more advanced ability control class?” she asked.

  “Only after my grandfather insisted on it,” I said. “But… I was never guilty of vanishing from class again,” I added with a smile.

  “Good thing – right?” she inquired.

  “Yes,” I responded. “I really didn’t want to push my instructors too far. I learned to do only what they required me to do while I was in class. It was difficult, but I did do it. As it was, I was there five more semesters before I transferred to Halsa, the Healer school.”

  “Did your instructors know your identity?” she wanted to know. “I mean, you are a prince of the Empire. How did they not know?”

  “My grandfather wanted to make sure I earned my marks,” I explained. “So, except for the Hexator Complex, he sent me under my mother’s name. Only the headmaster knew my real identity.”

  “How old were you when you started at Halsa?” she asked.

  “I had thirteen cycles,” I answered.

  “What is the average age of students who enter there?” she questioned.

  “Eighteen cycles,” I replied.

  “And you finished early,” she stated. “How did you manage that?”

  I laughed before I quipped, “Haven’t you heard? I’m an adept.”

  She laughed with me. “Don’t healers have to know a lot of stuff before they become healers?” she asked.

  “We do,” I answered, nodding my head. “The knowledge portion is what kept me at Halsa for sixteen years.”

  “Then you went to the Hexator Complex to become a Hexator,” she concluded.

  “No,” I corrected. “I spent two cycles working as a healer before I was enrolled at the Complex.”

  “I thought princes didn’t work,” she said in jest.

  “It has been a point of contention between my grandfather and me,” I responded earnestly.

  “Oh – I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect,” she rushed to say.

  “None taken,” I told her.

  “I’m glad you entered the Complex,” she commented. “I think we all needed saving.”

  I inclined my head to her. “I’m glad you all agreed to be my Hexacle,” I told her. “I think you are all the best the Complex had to offer. And you aren’t freaked out by my untraditional training and working habits.” She beamed at me, joy
evident in her eyes. “How’s your hot chocolate?”

  She peeked into her cup. “It is all gone,” she said sadly.

  “Mine too,” I told her. “Do you think you could go back to sleep now? I would like you well rested for tomorrows practice sessions.”

  “Do we get to fly the fighters again?” she asked.

  “That and a few other things,” I answered

  “Yes, I think I can go back to bed now,” she confided. We put the cups back in the replicator. Then, I escorted her back to her quarters. “Pleasant dreams, Lucera,” I said softly outside her door.

  “Good night,” she whispered just before she slipped into her room. I paused for a moment, listening to her move across her quarters. After a short time, she settled into her bed. Since all stayed quite, I returned to my room and my bed. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.

  *****

  By the next morning after breakfast, we had not heard from Captain Lawrence. That meant we would have our practice session in our suite. We prepared the room with wards and polar array. Today the ward covered all the furnishings. Then, I had Lucera ‘image’ all seven toys at once without the controller. I directed her to place each fighter on a separate shelf half a meter from the ceiling. The height was sufficient to be above everyone’s head.

  “How do you feel?” I asked Lucera.

  “I feel a little tired,” she replied. After a pause she added frowning, “How are we going to reach them?”

  I smiled mischievously. “That is the point of this exercise,” I replied. “How are you going to get them down?”

  “We’re going to fly them down,” answered Dulain. His eyes lost focus as he reached out to a miniature fighter. A moment later, the craft lifted off the shelf. It dived to a point one meter off the ground in front of Dulain. Then, it floated down onto the floor. Dulain looked around at us with a huge smile on his face.

  “Well done,” I told him. The rest of us followed suit. We each flew one of the remaining fighters down to land on the floor before us. “Nice job everyone,” I praised them. “You met this challenge.”