Defender of the Empire: Cadet #1

by Catherine Beery

  Marius set his empty cup down on its tray before saying “not so much to add as to ask.” He turned to find Sam gazing at him inquiringly. Marius sighed, wondering where to start. “We have been friends a long time, Sam. As a result, we know some of each other’s secrets. You know the biggest of mine.” Marius admitted. “You have even tried to help me with it. In your research, have you found anything at all that mentions a corporeal who can absorb energy and feed it to someone like me?”

  Sam blinked at him before frowning thoughtfully. “Perhaps. Come.” Marius had no choice but to follow the golden haired man as he left the room heading for the manor’s library. Marius didn’t even try because he had asked the question that had awakened the scholar in Sam’s spirit.

  The Blackmore Hall’s Library had one of the largest collections of old paper books in the empire. Some were even ancient, dating back to Old Earth’s Middle Ages. The only library who could boast more was the Imperial Library’s two campuses on both Prima Imperium and Imperia. The ancient pages were protected by a chemical substance that made the pages resistant to tears and decay. Ancient texts were treated now-a-days with careful fingers more out of respect than necessity. As fascinating as they might be, it wasn’t ancient books that Scholar Sam was interested in. He sat in the Interface, a large throne that would link the user to the library’s vast collection of digital media. Depending on the user, one would either see a holographic representation of a library complete with endless rows of stacks. Or you could see floating pages of light that would move around you based on what information you were seeking. That was what Marius saw. He was pretty sure Sam saw the old stacks. Luckily the information he was seeking would fly toward him in the forms of books and open to the right page.

  While Sam was busy accessing the digital media, Marius browsed the shelves before sitting in one of the overstuffed reading chairs and playing a mental game of battle ship with Zara. The spectral leopard enjoyed the mental hunt. Marius enjoyed the fact that he had a chance of winning something against her. It was minor, but still a chance.

  “Well, that was interesting.” Sam said coming out of the trace he had been in. He stretched as Marius and Zara quit their game and moved to sit across from him. Marius was glad for his friend’s timing. One more move and the wily cat would have shot him out of the sky.

  “Oh?” Marius raised a brow at Sam. There were many possible meanings behind the Sam’s use of the word ‘interesting’. The spectrum ranged from him finding something truly fascinating to a nice way of saying a ‘waste of time’. It all really depended on how the man was feeling.

  “Yes. I only found a few vague references to people who have over time been called Spectral Vampires other than yourself. Most of them died from…”

  “Starvation.” Marius said with a wince “I know that, Sam. Is there anything about what I described to you?”

  Sam eyed him in mild disgust for interrupting him. “Honestly Marius, I would not waste your time with something that was irrelevant. The purpose for mentioning the Spectral Vampires is to point out that it wasn’t because they had committed suicide or that others had forced them to starve, because as you well know, it’s impossible to keep Spectrals from a corporeal they have chosen.”

  THERE IS A REASON FOR EVERYTHING. DEATH IS SIMPLY THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER JOURNEY. Zara spoke up.

  Marius narrowed his eyes at the leopard because Sam, who had clearly heard her, didn’t scold her for interrupting. Sam smiled at her and nodded. “What happened to those other Vampires was that, eventually nothing could sustain them. Their bodies, no matter their gifts they had received from the Spectrals, could no longer stay young. Thus they died of exponential regression.”

  Sam paused and Marius shifted in his seat. Sam had told him this once before and he didn’t need to ask what ‘exponential regression’ meant. The image of growing old and decaying to fit his true age was not appealing. He was not a suicidal man as a rule, but were times when he thought such a fate was exactly what he deserved. He was only human and living. As such, he didn’t want to die till God tapped him on the shoulder. “And you once said that I was close to reaching that point.” Marius said.

  Sam looked him over before saying. “Once. But now I would say that is no longer true. And the only explanation for that would be you received a transfusion of more energy than a Spectral has. There is a reference to a kind of corporeal called a Spectral Sync. And by what you have told me and what I managed to find, Rylynn fits the description.”

  “So Syncs can half bond with multiple Spectrals and have higher energy levels than normal for their species?” Marius asked to make sure.

  Sam shrugged. “It would seem so. That said, there is still much not known, about either Spectral Syncs or Vampires.” Sam said warningly. Then he smiled “But it seems God has answered my prayers that you would be saved from the fate of those who were like you.”

  Chapter 22 – Nem

  Spectral Empire

  Avana System

  Distant stars seemed to float by like dust motes on a dark wind. I watched them. There was something both soothing and humbling about being made aware of such vastness, to know that one could spend lifetimes exploring and never see it all. There would always be those places that would remain a mystery. A place where unknown dreams could dwell.

  So many distant flames in numbers too many to count. Only God, who had made them, knew how many there were. And, somewhere among them was my humble home, the Imperial Capital, and all the other Prime and Colony worlds. All equally inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Also out there was the Avana System. For my team and I, the Avana System would be the site of our final challenge. More specifically, the largest moon of the Avren’s home world. As the third and final challenge, it would be the most dangerous because this was no scenario. It was real. Real space, real weapons, real mission, real hazards. And the only safety net available to us would be a LFP starship on the far side of the Avren’s home world. More than a world away if shit happened.

  Other than the recording devices for judging, we were alone. There would be no audience right there. Nor were the judges present as they were still at the central location of the Imperial Capital. We didn’t even have the other two final teams to keep us company either as they had been sent to other systems to complete their third challenge.

  I sighed and leaned back in my seat aboard the LFA we had been given. Before we set out, indeed, before we had even been given our missions, the judges had gathered us together. Admiral Knight played spokesperson. He congratulated us on being the three final teams; the teams who had proven our worth. He had then gone on to warn us that this final challenge was the real deal and only those cadets who had proven their worth could accept it. And to make things even more… unnerving, he gave us a moment to decide if we really wanted to accept our missions. Admiral Knight had explained that the real risks were ours to undertake and survive and no one would look down on us for backing away. None of us were fooled. They may respect our choice, but the prize we sought would be forfeit and everything we had done to get to this point would be for naught. I guess they forgot that they were dealing with those who felt the need to prove themselves and had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

  No one backed down.

  So after a pause, Admiral Knight continued to explain the basic gist of what our missions would be. A more detailed explanation was being handed out to us. The final challenge was broken into three parts. The first would be to navigate the provided LFA to our designated system. Our goal was to inspect the resident beacon that tied the system to the Empire wide sensor grid. The sensor grid was the first line of information on events happening in that system. It alerted the Legion Fleet that it citizens were in danger from raids or possible natural disasters, like incoming meteors and gamma ray bursts. In simplistic terms, it was the Empire’s nerve system.

  Our mission was to run a systems check on the Avana beacon and repair whatever needed repairing. We wer
e then to file our report and head home. The LFP serving as a safety net would then send its own, more experienced, crew to check that we had done it right. Our operating procedure and quality of work would be judged back on Prima Imperium. The judges would also look back upon the preceding challenges and score the team’s overall performance over the competition. School work would also be included. Eventually, when all this evaluation was completed the winning team would be announced and receive their reward.

  This challenge may sound easy, but there was a lot that could go wrong. It demanded experience along with quick and sound judgment if things went south. For Jason and I this would be our first real mission as Legion Fleet cadets. Thank goodness that we had two more experienced teammates who knew what procedures were needed and knew what to look out for.

  I stared at the stars outside the front view screen of the LFA Westley was piloting. Marius was at his side serving as co-pilot. Jason and I were in the back. Jason was watching his computer with avid eyes. I’m not entirely sure what held his interest so strongly. My guess was he was going over the beacon schematics for the thousandth time. To be perfectly honest, I should be going over them again myself. I also needed to once again go over the various tools and functions of the space suits that we would be wearing. I needed to make sure that I remembered how to work the damn things.

  Figuring that would be the right and safe thing to do I brought up the needed files on my own computer. The problem was I couldn’t get the symbols before me to make sense. Logically I knew those strange shapes were letters strung together to make words, which in turn formed sentences that held meaning. My mind just refused to see them. Instead it dwelled on what Kylesst had said just after the briefing.

  BE WARY, RYLYNN. KNIGHT’S PLANS ARE GOING INTO MOTION THIS DAY. HE PLANS TO KIDNAP ONE OF THE IMPERIAL PRINCES. HE PLANS TO DO IT DURRING YOUR MISSION.

  What? I had asked him in complete befuddlement. What princes? How am I supposed to protect a prince who isn’t even here?! I had demanded. Only Kylesst, the cryptic bastard, would throw this curve ball at me just before the most important challenge of my life to date.

  To make matters worse my questions were never answered. I wondered if that had been involuntary or by design.

  Either way it dragged my brain through endless loops of pondering that got me absolutely nowhere and kept me from last minute preparations that could very well save my life. And when I turned to the Spectrals occupying my head space to learn what Kylesst meant, they only repeated what he said with the additional ‘OH YEAH, HE HAD ASKED ME TO WARN YOU BEFORE, BUT I COULDN’T THINK STRAIGHT TILL NOW.’ Even Luna, who had been the most lucid, had avoided thinking about her time trapped in the Lous-Eci’dalb. Thus also incidentally forgetting to pass on a message from Kylesst about an imperial prince being in danger.

  It made me wonder how crazy being trapped in that weapon had made the Spectrals around me. It could possibly explain why they thought that I, a 5th class Cadet, could keep an imperial prince safe. Besides, didn’t princes have body guards? Were they that incompetent that I could somehow do better? Somehow I severely doubted that. And besides, how was I supposed to protect someone I didn’t even know?

  I was dragged from my thoughts by a cool finger rubbing my forehead just above the bridge of my nose. I startled and turned to see Jason’s tri colored eyes laughing at me as he took back his hand. “If you keep frowning like that, those lines will never go away.” He said with his melodic voice. “At least, that is what my mother always said.”

  “I wasn’t frowning.” I replied rubbing my forehead with my own finger. I didn’t really have lines there, did I?

  He laughed softly. “Sure, and you love math equations.”

  “For some reason, I don’t think Jason believes you, Rylynn.” Marius said off-handedly as he checked his readouts.

  I decided that I didn’t need to respond to either of them. Instead I turned to Westley. “Are we almost there?” I asked.

  “Welcome to the Avana System.” He replied. “Just another five minutes and we’ll reach Prime World Avana and her moon.”

  “So what were you frowning about?” Jason asked.

  I sighed. “I was just thinking.” I answered. I really couldn’t tell him what had actually been bothering me. He couldn’t do anything about it. And if I said anything aloud it would put us all in danger from Admiral Knight. Besides, I had already told the only person I could through Scrae and Marius was as confused about Kylesst’s timing and message as I was. I decided it was well past time to focus on what was in front of me that I could actually do something about instead of some mystery my cryptic friend had thrown my way.

  I brought up the basic details of Prime World Avana and her system on my computer. Avana was a gas giant with a thick atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen with a good measure of water vapor. The core of the planet was rocky. But the high atmospheric pressure saw to it that very little could survive on the surface. Instead everything flew in one way or another. The Avren people developed air bladders that they could use to change their buoyancy. Their beautiful wings provided them with mobility. And with two pairs of wings each, that mobility had an agility other races were hard pressed to emulate, though the Leopard Kin gave it their best shot. But let’s be honest, cats can’t fly.

  The Avrens built glittering ice crystal cities upon the backs of large, sedate floating creatures that gave a whole new meaning to ‘huge’. According to my class on the various Prime Worlds, the Avrens developed a symbiotic relationship with the giant creatures they called La’vien. The rest of the empire uses the word ‘Leviathan’. The La’vien were fed and cleaned by the Avrens. With their basic needs seen to, the La’vien were perfectly content to carry cities on their backs.

  Avana, being a giant herself, was also attended by smaller bodies. In attendance were two medium sized moons and one large moon. They orbited through the dusty and fragmented rings that surrounded Avana. Closest to Avana was either fiery Carvo or icy Tress. It was either because the two moon’s orbits crossed at times. So depending on the season, Tress was closest. Other times it was Carvo. The Avren calendar kept track of the moon cycle.

  Farther out, beyond the chance of crossing paths, was Nem. Nem was the largest moon. Large enough to have a thin atmosphere of its own. All three moons were geologically active due to tidal heating cause by the force exerted by Avana. Tress and Carvo got an extra squeezing from Nem playing tug-of-war with the mother planet.

  Our target was Nem as its somewhat stable surface was more agreeable for building a beacon then its siblings.

  A few minutes later, Westley guided the LFA toward Nem. As per protocol Westley radioed in to the Prime World’s local Legion Fleet base, informing them of our mission. As if they didn’t already know, but as I said ‘per protocol.

  “I wonder why they made it protocol?” M. Kit wondered.

  PROBABLY SO THEY WOULDN’T FEEL LIKE PEOPLE WERE STICKING THEIR UNWANTED NOSES IN THEIR BUSINESS. Scrae muttered. COMPUTERS INCLUDED. The last was only marginally softer. And honestly… this was happening in my head now?

  Of course it was. I thought as M. Kit replied to Scrae in an affronted tone. “Computers do not have noses.” M. Kit pointed out. “Besides, it is a computer’s directive to gather and compute information.”

  YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE HAVING NOSES IS A BAD THING. Luna said joining into the argument.

  My eyes narrowed. I might be their safety raft, but there was only so much I could take. Guys, seriously? You are arguing about this stupidity? I don’t need this right now. My life is about to be decided so grow the hell up or shut up. I thought harshly at the Spectrals and yes, perhaps it was an overreaction but I was getting a headache. At least, that was how I was justifying it. And M. Kit, the protocol is probably there so they can be sure that we are who we say we are and not someone who commandeered an LFA and are making the system vulnerable. I answered. I then turned my attention to the answer Westley got.

  “Congratulations f
or completing the first step of arriving, 1st Cadet Trin.” The station receiver answered over the com. He sounded genuine. “Let me be the first to welcome you to the Avana System. Good luck up there.”

  “Thanks Station. We’ll try not to make too much of a mess.” Westley said with a smile.

  The man laughed. “See that you don’t, cadets.” He continued addressing all of us humor still coloring his tone.

  Marius chuckled. “Well we’ve been told.” He looked back at Jason and me. “I’ll admit, I am considering not to resist my voluntary tourettes and leave a little mess for them so they will remember us fondly.”

  I rolled my eyes and Westley shook his head as Jason reprimanded Marius. “We want to succeed, Marius. I don’t want to fail simply because you left a mess.”

  “We wouldn’t fail.” Marius replied. “We would complete our mission. I would just leave some graffiti or something along that line.”

  “With what?” I asked.

  Marius threw me a look. “I’m always prepared for any contingency.” The rest of us snorted.

  “There it is.” Westley said. Out the forward viewer I could see Nem grow larger and larger. Before I knew it Westley was guiding the craft into the atmosphere. My knuckles went white as I clutched the armrests of my flight chair as our little Arrow was buffeted on entry. “Sorry about the bumpy ride.” Westley said after the major jostling died down. “The beacon shouldn’t be too far from here.” He commented.

  Marius checked his computer and nodded. “I see it on sensors. It’s a couple clicks to the south west.”

  Westley nodded and veered the ship in that direction. I couldn’t take my eyes from the front viewer. This was the third world I had ever seen. The fact that it was a moon didn’t matter to me. It was not Colony Lenti or even Prima Imperium. It was the dusty, wind carved landscape of Nem. And pretty soon, as Marius had told us, I got my first actual look at a Beacon node. It had been built into a mountain near the top but sheltered from the worst of the winds. The building itself looked like a metal igloo with a spire sticking out of the top of it. At the top of the spire flashed a red light. “Let’s get this done.” Westley said. Jason, Marius and I voiced our agreement and a moment later the ship landed with a slight bounce. A second rock let us all know that the landing pad had anchored the ship in place. It wouldn’t do to have it blow away.