Journey to Marrachi

by Dan Oakley

  His voice sounded muffled, and when I turned, I saw the reason why. He had a fine metal implement between his teeth. He grinned at my look of surprise.

  “You can get on with your hacking, Mage. I can pick these locks the old-fashioned way.” He winked.

  I left Draylan to it and began to look for the processing units. Now that I was here, I was starting to realise how unrealistic my expectations were. I’d never had any luck trying Trella’s hacking technique before, so what made me think I’d be successful this time? I could only hope that the focus tea helped.

  The commander’s desk contained a movable console, including a keypad and transparent monitor. In theory, anything connected to the system with access to his personal files should be a gateway I could exploit. But I wanted to make my job as easy as possible.

  Unfortunately, wherever the processors or storage units were, they were out of sight.

  Holding my breath, I reached out to touch the keypad. As soon as I touched a button, the console lifted, revealing a set of storage disks underneath. Taking a deep breath, I pressed my fingers against the side of one of the storage disks and closed my eyes.

  I concentrated on the flow of energy through my body to the system and back again. Almost immediately, numbers scrolled behind my closed eyes. It was an unnerving experience, but I kept my eyes tightly shut and concentrated on the numbers. But it was no good, I couldn’t interpret them. They meant nothing to me. I needed to find a way into his files presented in a format I could visualise. Maybe Trella could read and interpret this stream of data, but I couldn’t.

  An alert from my wrist device made me jump. I looked down and saw I’d transferred the data to a folder on the device. That had been… unintentional. But I supposed it was logical. The device was touching my skin, so the data flowed into it. Though I didn’t consciously mean to save the data there.

  Time was in short supply, and deep down, I knew the rows of numbers were not going to get me the answers I needed.

  I moved my hand slightly and tried another angle. This time, imagining myself logging in and opening the commander’s files, messages and recordings.

  Just when I thought I was getting somewhere, the energy abruptly stopped flowing. It was like getting a door slammed in my face.

  Turning to Draylan, I asked, “Any luck?”

  He shut the drawer he’d been rifling through. “Nothing, I suppose it was a long shot to think he might have kept something incriminating.”

  He straightened and began to walk to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Surely we couldn’t have run out of time already.

  “I did what you asked. I got you in here, and we looked through Commander Taggert’s stuff. There’s nothing here, Tomas. There’s no point hanging around, waiting to get caught.”

  Before I could argue, we both heard voices outside. One of which, made my stomach flip over. Commander Taggert.

  Draylan moved quickly, pressing himself back against the wall just beside the door. As the commander and his assistant entered the office, they didn’t see Draylan quietly slipping away.

  He looked back once over his shoulder before leaving me to face them alone.

  They both stared at me, too shocked to say anything at first. But I didn’t need the commander to say anything to read his mood. He was shaking with anger, and his face flushed red.

  His tight pinched features were just the same as I remembered. He observed me through his dark close set eyes and then turned to his assistant.

  “Get out of here, Ensign!”

  “But, commander…” The man who must have been Ensign Borrack’s replacement spluttered.

  “I said out, now!”

  The Ensign took one last look at me before scurrying out of the office. I wondered whether he would listen at the door.

  The commander turned his attention to me, a cold smile spreading across his lips. I briefly considered taking him down with an energy bolt and trying to make my escape. But though the ship was not fully manned, there were still plenty of crew about, who would not hesitate to shoot me if I attacked the commander.

  “I thought you were dead, Tomas,” the commander said.

  “You shouldn’t listen to rumours,” I replied flippantly, instantly knowing I’d made a mistake by the expression on the commander’s face.

  I wouldn’t get away with a simple reprimand. I knew what the commander had done, and he wouldn’t allow his secret to get out.

  Perhaps I wouldn’t even make it to the Kingdoms’ jail. He already had one person, Bayliss, shouting about his crimes. It was easy for him to dismiss one person as crazy, but two… or more… It would be safer for him to kill me.

  “Would you be kind enough to explain what you were doing in my office…? Inside my personal quarters?” His voice was low and dangerous.

  My life depended on my answer, but I didn’t see a way out. There was only one logical reason for me being in his office. The commander was an evil man, but he wasn’t stupid.

  Still, this was my life in the balance, so I had to try.

  “I wanted to talk to you. Report a crime.”

  The commander smiled, so widely that the skin around his eyes crinkled, but no light lit up his eyes.

  “Really?” He looked like he was trying not to laugh. “And what crime is that?”

  “It happened under your command, so I thought it only right to come to you first. Zarak stabbed me just before we were due to leave the planet Tor. He left me for dead.”

  For a long time the commander said nothing. He didn’t look surprised by the revelation, and I strongly suspected he may have already coerced this information from Zarak.

  “How terrible,” the commander eventually said dryly. “What would you like me to do about it?”

  His response threw me for a moment, and I paused before replying. “I want you to punish him.”

  The commander walked slowly up to his desk, placed both hands upon the top and leaned forward, so his face was close to mine. “What an interesting idea.”

  My gaze flickered to the door, but there was no way I’d get to it before the commander raised the alarm. I had to make a decision. Did I continue with this charade, trying to talk my way out of a death sentence, or did I go on the attack?

  Chapter 25

  The commander sneered at me. He knew he’d won and had me cornered.

  Previously I’d suspected he’d known about Zarak’s betrayal, but now I was certain.

  My temper boiled over. “He stabbed me and left me for dead. But I should have known you wouldn’t care about that. After all, it’s exactly what you did to your sister! You’re no better than Zarak.”

  The commander perched on the edge of his desk, chuckling, which only infuriated me more.

  “You’re not even going to deny it?”

  He linked his fingers and stretched his arms over his head, yawning.

  “Why should I deny it? No one will believe you, mage. Not with your background.”

  “Background?” I could feel the energy of my magic bubbling beneath the surface, and it took all my powers of restraint not to take the commander out right there.

  “Why would they believe a lowly mage from the miserable planet of Terrano over a commander of a Kingdoms ship?”

  “Because I am telling the truth.”

  “Truth doesn’t matter. What matters is how you play the game. You play badly.”

  “It’s no game. Your sister was torn apart by those creatures. You killed her. You knew exactly what would happen when you sent her to that planet.”

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “I simply arranged things. I’ve got no blood on my hands.”

  “You knew if she went to that planet, she would die.”

  “Of course, that was the idea.”

  I shook my head slowly. “You feel no remorse?”

  His expression grew hard. “No. Why should I? She was a wasteful, selfish woman, who would have frittered away our inheritance. I gave her ample
warnings that she chose to ignore.”

  “I don’t suppose she considered the fact her brother might be a murderer.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. I only arranged things. I dealt with a problem. Her death was unfortunate, but necessary.”

  “What about the rest of the crew who died with her?”

  “What about them?” he snapped impatiently. “They were nobodies, foot soldiers, who would never amount to anything in their lives anyway. I doubt they are missed.”

  I was sure their families would disagree with that statement.

  “And the fake rescue mission to the planet Tor? When you sent us there, you must’ve known your sister was already dead.”

  He cocked his head to one side and nodded gently, as though conceding the point. “I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. I hoped the job was done, but I needed confirmation, and you Tomas helped me get that confirmation.”

  “You mean I was expendable. That’s why you didn’t send any high-ranking officers with us.”

  “Very good, Tomas,” he said, smiling. “If I’d known you were so quick to catch on, perhaps I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to get rid of you.”

  “What about Trella?” I asked. That was the one thing I didn’t understand. With her talents, plus the fact she was a fully trained jump mage, she should have been a valuable commodity, one the commander should have valued.

  He tried not to react, but I saw a muscle jump beside his temple, and he made a fist with his right hand.

  “The mage is trouble. She was working for the rebellion.”

  “That’s not true!” Trella’s sister had been caught up in some business with the rebellion… But not Trella. She would have told me. Wouldn’t she?

  Commander Taggert chuckled. “I see she managed to hide some secrets from you. Is she a good actress, or are you merely a fool?”

  My cheeks burned. Could Trella really have hidden the truth from me? When we’d been stuck on planet Tor, we’d spent hours talking and she’d never given any hint that she believed in the rebellion, let alone that she was prepared to fight for it.

  A cruel voice in the back of my mind taunted me. Her sister was involved. Do you really believe she was falsely accused? Maybe the commander is right. You are a fool.

  Commander Taggert was smirking, enjoying my discomfort.

  “Did she not mention the fact her sister is about to be put on trial for rebellion against the Kingdoms?”

  “She did.” That took the wind out of his sails a little. I rushed on, wanting to change the subject. I didn’t want to talk about Trella anymore.

  “What did you do to our weapons? They were useless against the mutant lizards.”

  “Well, of course they were. I didn’t want anyone to survive. I was worried the mage might be able to use her magic to defeat the creatures. But I hoped eventually she would succumb. The weapons were fused, so they couldn’t do more than stun the lizards.”

  I gasped at the forward planning this must have taken. He had been plotting this for a long time.

  “They were useless. You may as well have sent us there with no weapons at all.”

  “That would be stupid. As dimwitted as you are, I think even you would have realised something was wrong if you were sent to the planet with no weapons at all.”

  The truth of the situation started to sink in. The commander was going to get away with this, and I would rot in jail for the rest of my life. Zarak would never be punished for stabbing me and leaving me to die.

  I leaned heavily against the desk.

  “As for what Zarak did to you,” the commander said, “I can only surmise you’re useless mage, if an ordinary crewman like him can get the better of you.”

  I pictured an energy bolt slamming into him and leaving a smoking hole in his chest. Energy flowed to my fingers, and I felt the crackle of magic. Somehow, I managed to resist the temptation.

  I gritted my teeth as he leaned forward, his eyes locked on mine as he said, “Here’s some advice, Tomas. There are winners and losers in this game of life, and you, Tomas, are destined to be a loser.”

  Then he pressed two buttons on the keypad and summoned the ensign into the room.

  When the door slid open, the commander barked, “Take this traitor to the brig.”

  I was imprisoned in a room rather than a cage. The walls, floor and ceiling were white. There was no bed or chair. The room was completely empty.

  Unlike others on the ship, the door to my prison had a small opening for my jailers to spy on me. I stopped pacing and whirled around when I heard it open.

  “He doesn’t look very magical to me,” a nasally voice said, that I took to belong to one of the guards.

  His hazel eyes peered at me through the rectangular hole in the door.

  “Appearances can be deceptive,” a different voice said.

  I rushed up to the door, and the guard quickly pushed himself away as though fearing I was going to hurt him.

  “As we are docked on a Marrachi space station, I have the right to be represented by a law man or woman.”

  The guard with the hazel eyes chuckled. “Traitors have no rights, mage.”

  My stomach churned. Who would fight in my corner if the commander decided to execute me? If he wanted to get rid of me maybe I wouldn’t even get a proper trial.

  “Look at his face! He’s turned green. I thought mages were supposed to be powerful.” The guard sniffed and turned away.

  “Not this one. The commander didn’t even want us to bother with bysandown. He said the magic diffusers embedded in the walls were enough to contain him. Not surprisingly really. I heard he was from Terrano.”

  “Terrano? I didn’t know they had mages there.”

  “Well, apparently they do. Just not very good ones.”

  Things weren’t looking good. Attempting to block out the guards’ voices, I moved away from the door. Trying to look on the positive side, I considered my options. At least they hadn’t drugged me. I had no idea what the magic diffusers were and wondered if I could overcome them by using a rush of energy. I felt angry enough to tear the place apart.

  On the way to the brig, the guards had been unnecessarily rough, even though I hadn’t resisted. They’d tripped and pushed me, laughing as I’d scraped my hand and hit my head on the wall. I had no idea how long I’d been held in the brig. Maybe only an hour, but it felt like an eternity.

  When I heard Draylan’s voice, I thought my mind was playing tricks.

  “I’ve come to interrogate the prisoner on the commander’s orders. Step outside.” His voice sounded forceful.

  “I don’t know about that… We were told he wasn’t going to be interrogated until tomorrow,” the guard with the nasally voice whined.

  “Change of plan,” Draylan snapped.

  “He’s a mage. Shouldn’t he be interrogated by an Inquisitor?”

  I shuddered at the thought of the red cloaked inquisitors. Maybe death wasn’t the worst conclusion after all. If the inquisitors got hold of me, I would be tortured.

  “There’s none available today. Now, go, give me some privacy.”

  The guards left, but Draylan stayed silent.

  I moved closer to the door, so I could hear him. My stomach sank. His eyes were bloodshot, and he smelled of spirits. My life hung in the balance, and he’d been drinking.

  “You left me…” I spat the words at him.

  “What did you expect?” he asked in a harsh whisper.

  What did I expect? Loyalty? Help?

  When I didn’t answer, he asked, “Would you feel better if we’d both been punished?”

  “Yes,” I said, although that wasn’t really true.

  Draylan sighed.

  “They’ve taken my wrist device,” I said. “I was expecting a message from Trella… Can you check it for me?”

  Draylan huffed. “I don’t know. I’ll try to find out where it is. Now, lean forward.”

  I stared at him in confusion. “What? Why?” />
  “I don’t have time to answer your questions. Just lean forward.”

  Frowning, I did as he asked. He put his hand through the rectangular hole in the door, reaching out to grasp my shoulder and pluck something tiny from the surface of my linen shirt.

  “What was that?”

  “I’ll explain later, but for now, you have to trust me, Tomas. I’ve got a plan.”

  Trust him? Did he think I was mad?

  “Why don’t you just report the commander?” I asked. “Go to the law offices on Marrachi and tell them I’m being held prisoner with no hope of a trial.”

  Draylan rubbed a weary hand over his face. “That won’t work.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m a drunk, Tomas, and no one believes a drunk.”

  I stared at Draylan, knowing he was probably my last hope of getting out of this alive. I didn’t like my chances.

  “Tell Kira I’m sorry. Tell her… that she can keep all my things…” I broke off, imagining how Kira would react to the news. She told me the plan was stupid. I should have listened to her.

  “Hey, come on now. Don’t be like that. I told you, I have a plan. I may be a drunk, but I’m a clever drunk.”

  Draylan winked at me and then turned and left without saying another word.

  I leaned against the wall and shook my head. My future now lay in the hands of a man I wasn’t sure I could trust.

  Chapter 26

  I couldn’t wait around for Draylan to save me, not when I didn’t even know what his plan involved. If I could just think about the problem logically, maybe I could save myself.

  Magic would be the obvious choice. Unfortunately, if what the guards had said was true, the diffusers embedded in the walls would neutralise whatever magic I tried to use.

  I had no idea how the diffusers worked, but imagined they might be constructed from a similar material to the blue rope, which could absorb a mage’s magic.

  I traced a finger along the sleek, shiny material coating the wall. At least it didn’t make me feel any different, unlike the bysandown.

  Was there a way to bypass the diffusers? I frowned. My technique and focus were very underdeveloped, but I was powerful. Perhaps the raw power generated from my extra mutations could overwhelm the diffusers…