“Acknowledged. Flight path received, proceeding to launch. Daggerhound out,” the woman replied calmly, and the comm went silent. Moments later the ship rose, retracting its landing gear and turned to leave, moving with a precision that Maggie had rarely seen out of pilots that landed in Rakal.
The ship arrowed into the sky, and Maggie watched it for a second, then muttered, “I really hope that’s the last I see of them.”
Then she turned to pay attention as her orbital scanners began chirping, and Maggie scowled, then opened the comm to speak. “Snapdragon, what do you think you’re doing? Keep on that orbit and you’re going to slam right into Cavendish!”
There wasn’t an immediate response, and Maggie growled, powering up the weapon systems. Some pirates needed to be shown the stick and have it waved a centimeter or two under their damned noses.
“Exiting atmosphere. Drive systems functioning at eighty-nine percent of manufacturer specifications,” the Doll at navigation reported. “Systems nominal.”
On the screen, the sky had slowly changed from blue to the starkest black filled with the unwavering lights of the stars. No atmosphere interfered with their light here, and Evelyn studied them for a moment, then decided then and there that she wanted a proper observatory room on a new ship. One where she could feel surrounded by stars on all sides.
“ETA to safe jump space?” Evelyn asked. How close you could be to a planet and safely enter or leave astral varied based on the planet, its moon or moons, star, and multiple other variables she could never remember. She knew it was usually past geosynchronous orbit, but she wasn’t certain which it was here.
“At the maximum velocity specified by Rakal Space Control, one hour and ten minutes,” Control replied.
Evelyn nodded, sitting back in her chair as she watched the stars. Fya let out a sigh and grumbled. “I wish that space travel wasn’t so boring.”
“You’re just impatient. And annoyed that I didn’t let you buy clothing for the ladies,” Evelyn replied, not looking at the djinn, whose eyes and hair were blue today.
“They would’ve looked great in the clothing I’d get them!” Fya protested.
“It also would have looked ridiculous and been far too expensive,” Evelyn said absently, tapping her fingers together.
“How can you say that?” Fya asked, and Evelyn deliberately didn’t look at the djinn, since she knew how she’d be looking at her. Evelyn could almost imagine the way she’d have her lower lip quivering, and the way tears would be welling up in her eyes… it was incredible how theatrical the djinn could be at times.
“How can I say it? You kept me in frilly, ridiculous, impractical dresses for a year,” Evelyn retorted. “If they hadn’t been so annoying, I might not have minded so much, but you wouldn’t let me have even one dress that I liked.”
“But… you liked the red one!” Fya replied. Evelyn sighed, turning to glower at her.
At that precise moment the air between them shimmered, motes of blue light flickering in mid-air for a few seconds, then they coalesced into a woman. Vaneryth looked particularly embarrassed with flushed cheeks as she appeared, her halo still shining over her head, but her wings were missing. She still wore her shipsuit, and Evelyn’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“Vaneryth. I thought that you had returned to your home plane,” Evelyn said evenly, eyeing the angel suspiciously.
“I did.” Vaneryth replied, her cheeks coloring as she looked down. “I was… informed of a few mistakes I made, rather egregious ones, and they chose to strip me of a good deal of my power and send me back until I learned my lesson. May I impose upon you to take one of those positions on your crew? Or even your harem, for that matter. I’m afraid that at this point I’m a bit desperate.”
Evelyn had only half-opened her mouth when Fya spoke.
“Oh, yes, yes, yes! You’re totally welcome into the harem!” the djinn exclaimed, her hair and eyes turning a bright shade of blue-white suddenly as she sat up, practically dancing in her chair. “Hee, we have our first member, and she’s an angel!”
Evelyn inhaled, considering for a moment, then let breath out, eying Vaneryth suspiciously as she spoke. “Learn your lesson, is it? Then this would be a punishment. Question is, is that for you or for me?”
“Me. Definitely me.” Vaneryth replied, staring at the floor intently.
Somehow Evelyn couldn’t find it in her to believe that. But then, she’d always been suspicious of the gods ever since she’d found out about the prophecy involving her. However, at the same time, Vaneryth did look pitiful… and Evelyn had already made the offer to let them work for her, if they had sufficient skills.
“What skills do you have?” Evelyn asked at last. “What role can you perform as part of a crew?”
“Not much of one, I’m afraid. While I’m skilled with melee weapons and magic, my strength with both was stripped from me. If I’m to regain it, I will have to rebuild it the hard way,” Vaneryth admitted quietly. “I’m not much more powerful than most mortals at this point. Perhaps equal to Beatrice? I have a little combat and healing magic but I am willing to fill any role you desire.”
Evelyn blinked, then demanded, “What did you do to get that sort of punishment?”
Vaneryth blushed bright red and looked at the door, almost visibly wilting… yet she didn’t respond. After a couple of seconds, Evelyn sighed and shook her head.
“Fine, you can stay aboard. I’ll have to figure out where I want you, but if you annoy me too much, I will have you playing janitor,” Evelyn said, standing up again. “Ignore Fya, though. I’ll let you stay aboard even if you tell her no.”
“Spoilsport,” Fya said, frowning as her hair color dimmed slowly.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Lady Evelyn,” Vaneryth promised.
“Evelyn, please. I hate being referred to as a lady. Fya just refuses to give up the term, and I owe her too much to strangle her. No matter how tempting it is from time to time,” Evelyn said, gesturing for Vaneryth to follow her. “Now, you’re going to have to wait until we reach Nald to get new clothing and the training chips. While the Dolls have some, they aren’t designed for people to learn, unfortunately. Do you have anyone you’d like to room next to?”
“Anyone but Zelirana, please. I feel a little too vulnerable around her, especially now,” Vaneryth said, glancing around nervously.
That prompted a laugh, and Evelyn glanced at the angel in amusement.
“I think that we can arrange,” Evelyn assured her, then led her down the hall, calling up the list of empty rooms in her implants, then chose the one farthest from the succubus.
Vaneryth was keeping rather close behind Evelyn, which was an odd change, but not one Evelyn objected to.
Chapter 16
“Here it comes!” Moon said eagerly, and Star rolled her eyes, though she leaned forward herself to watch the projection of the ship’s exterior.
She would’ve preferred a proper window, but Beatrice had explained that no military starship had windows unless they were so heavily enchanted that they were stronger than the armor around them.
“I do find the astral fascinating. While we’ve been able to reach it for countless years, it’s mortal technology that has allowed it to be truly explored,” Zelirana said, sitting back in her chair as she watched the projection as well. The hologram on the wall was almost as good as watching it directly, in Star’s opinion.
Jumping into the astral was a breathtaking experience. One moment they were above the planet, a world of blue, green, and brown festooned with clouds and with a small red moon orbiting it. The next the darkness ahead of them split open as a rift of brilliant light rushed toward them, this time purplish-blue. Where it passed the darkness of space was replaced, and Star’s breath caught in her throat.
Mountainous reefs of mottled pink and brown stone could be seen in the far distance, seemingly small, but bigger than planets. Star didn’t know which reefs they were, but she was sure that there were miners b
usily trying to excavate ore from them. Above them, three multi-hued stars were busily trying to devour one another, streamers of energy extending from one to the others, while strange nebulae were all around them, many of them strange colors and glowing, and other sorts of debris was all around, from asteroids to bits of ships. Astral was full of things, and seeing incredibly long distances, like to see the mountains, was relatively rare.
The transition was beautiful, and one that she and Moon had loved ever since they’d first had the chance to see it when they were six or seven… Star wasn’t sure which year they’d gone on the trip to see Zendar’s green sun, but it’d been spectacular, and they’d only had a handful of chances to go through the astral again over the years. Their parents weren’t well-off enough to afford to take them on interstellar trips often.
As they watched, Star saw the faintest hints of movement, and she couldn’t help a slight nod. They must be moving now, and she felt a sense of inevitability wash over her.
“So… have you two decided what you’re going to do?” Tianna asked after a moment, and Star blinked, then looked toward the elven woman. She was examining the two of them closely, and Star blushed slightly, glancing at her sister.
“Not yet,” Moon said, meeting Star’s gaze. “Unlike the rest of you, it’s been over three years for us. We have no idea what’s happened in that amount of time.”
“Yeah, for all we know, our parents could’ve… I don’t know, moved off somewhere, and we won’t be able to find them,” Star agreed, waving her hand in the air as she smiled tautly. “Not that I think they will have. Almost beggared themselves trying to find us, sure… but I don’t think they’ll have gone anywhere.”
“Yeah, and without our scholarships school would be… rough,” Moon said, wincing slightly. “I’d bet an arm that they were revoked.”
Star flinched at that, her mood souring a little more as she nodded. “Yeah… that’d make things difficult, that’s for sure. We’ll see, though.”
“We need to discuss it,” Moon agreed, pausing for a couple of seconds before she shrugged. “I guess that’s the main thing we need to chat about over the next couple of days.”
Star nodded, looking at her sister as she debated. She had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking, but she didn’t want to admit her own reluctance to go back home. Not in front of so many other people… and she had to admit, Evelyn’s company the night before had been amazing.
“Well, you have time for it. I wouldn’t get too comfortable—” Peldri began, but cut off as the door hissed open.
In the doorway was Evelyn, who took in the entire room with a glance, then smiled. “Ah, good, you’re all here. Vaneryth has returned and will be staying aboard the ship. Zelirana, touch her at your peril. That is all.”
With that, the elf left, the door sliding shut behind her, and Star blinked.
“What was that about? Now I’m curious…” the succubus murmured, sitting up straight, and Dirax laughed.
“Your funeral,” the dark elf said, and glanced around the room. “Who’s up for a game of cards?”
“Stakes?” Beatrice asked, perking up suddenly.
“Nothing. Can’t afford to lose any of my seed money, if this is all I’ve got,” Dirax replied, at which the half-elf looked disappointed.
“I think I’m going to go find something for lunch,” Star said after a moment, and glanced at Moon. “Care to help?”
“Sure,” Moon agreed, and the two of them headed for the door. Ilyra followed them, but Star didn’t pay her much mind.
Chapter 17
Everyone in the room was gawking at Evelyn as she lifted weights. It wasn’t like all of them were in the gym, but that didn’t change the fact those present were staring, and it took a modest amount of concentration for Evelyn to ignore them.
Beatrice, Ilyra, Vaneryth, and Zelirana were the ones in the room, and Evelyn could see Ilyra’s mouth moving as she counted the weights on the barbell. It amused her, and she kept moving, lowering and raising the weights with fluid movements. She wasn’t trying to increase her strength, and really couldn’t with the equipment on-hand anyway. It wouldn’t survive her trying to put that many weights on it.
“Alright, your surgeon must be the best I’ve ever seen,” Beatrice said at last, looking a touch aggravated.
“Hm?” Evelyn asked, turning her head slightly to look at the woman and raising an eyebrow.
Behind Beatrice, Vaneryth was lifting dumbbells, relatively lightweight ones, and her cheeks were rather bright red as she struggled. Zelirana had a smirk on her face as she used the elliptical machine near the angel, which made Evelyn wonder if she needed to make more threats. The succubus seemed to find Vaneryth’s loss of power highly entertaining and was like a bloodhound that had caught the scent of prey. Which was likely far too accurate of a description.
“For your implants,” Beatrice explained, glowering slightly. “I’ve never seen someone lift like that without being able to see signs of their implants, not before this.”
“Ah, that explains it. Sorry to say, but you’re wrong. I don’t have any of the implants you’re thinking of,” Evelyn replied, turning her attention back to what she was doing while the others looked at her curiously. “The only implants I have are tier six command and control cerebral implants, the ones that piggyback on the nervous system. Everything else is natural.”
“What? But…” Beatrice began, her voice trailing off in shock as she looked at the weights, then at Evelyn, her eyes huge. Then she demanded. “How? I’ve never seen anyone without implants pick up that much! Even magic can’t do that much for you!”
Vaneryth stopped, setting down her weights, and Zelirana’s attention turned fully to Evelyn, while Evelyn resisted the urge to sigh, continuing to work.
“I’m a freak of nature,” Evelyn replied simply. “Or maybe just a freak, given how powerful I am.”
“Um, does that mean that if you were to get physical implants, you’d be even stronger?” Ilyra asked, a note of uncertainty in her voice, and Evelyn couldn’t resist a soft chuckle.
“I’m afraid not,” Evelyn said, but on seeing the confusion on the noblewoman’s face, she decided to elaborate. “Beatrice, what would happen if someone installed the best muscle-enhancement implants you can think of without accompanying bone reinforcements?”
“They’d tear their body apart. Snap the bones, ligaments, all of that sort of thing,” Beatrice said, frowning slightly as she looked at Evelyn. Ilyra flinched, which was an appropriate reaction.
“Exactly. Which means the physical body is usually the limit to how potent of implants can be installed. Unless you go for bone reinforcement, an orc can usually take stronger implants than an elf. However, even with everything you can do, there’s an upper limit to the strength you can get without magic getting involved,” Evelyn said, smirking as she looked at them. “After all, there’s only so strong they can make implants. Unfortunately for the manufacturers, they’ve yet to build physical implants that exceed my natural potential. Kilo for kilo and volume for volume, I exceed any mechanical construct I’ve encountered.”
“Then… what about with magic?” Ilyra asked eagerly. On the other hand, Evelyn noticed how nervous Beatrice was looking, and a tiny part of her wondered if the woman had been planning something incredibly stupid.
“Magic can increase the strength, speed, and toughness of almost anything, yes. However, that also has a limit based on the skill of the practitioner and the durability of the object in question. There is an upper limit. And that’s why I spent an incredible amount on an item of my own,” Evelyn replied, glancing toward her navel, where the enchanted piercing was hidden by her shirt. “The only way something will outclass me is if it’s bigger than me. Much bigger.”
“Oh. I always wondered how you could conquer a country… my parents said that it was a weak country, though,” Ilyra murmured, her eyes huge.
Evelyn laughed, setting the barbell back on the supports
, which creaked slightly from the weight. “Weak? I suppose you could say that, but—”
“Milady, we’ve got a distress call!” Fya’s voice came cheerfully over the intercom, bringing the conversation to an abrupt halt.
Looking up, Evelyn arched her eyebrows and asked. “What sort of distress call?”
“An automated one, from a ship called Nebula Runner. It isn’t in our database, but the transponder claims it’s a mid-size passenger ship, and their engines failed. The signal isn’t very strong, like it’s being interfered with by the nebula around it.” Fya reported, not losing the cheerful note to her voice.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Vaneryth said, frowning and oblivious to how Zelirana had silently gotten off the elliptical machine and was sneaking up on her. “I do not know much about the astral, but I’ve heard that being stranded here can often be lethal.”
“There are plenty of predators. Not unlike the succubus with a death wish behind you.” Evelyn agreed, prompting Vaneryth to jump, and Zelirana to give Evelyn a betrayed look.
“I didn’t do anything!” Zelirana protested.
“Would you just leave me alone? I don’t want anything to do with you!” Vaneryth said, quickly backing away from the succubus.
“Who’s the one who was trying to murder me for the crime of existing?” Zelirana retorted, folding her arms as she eyed the angel like a cat watching a mouse. “I think I deserve the chance to have the shoe on the other foot.”
“Enough,” Evelyn interrupted firmly. “Touch her without her explicit permission, and I’ll cut your wings and tail off. And if you keep this up, I’ll forbid you from even being in the same room as her. Vaneryth, you need to learn to relax a little. Fya, I’m going to get cleaned up. Bring the ship into long-distance spacewalk range and have us ready for combat.”
Chosen of Chaos (Eve of Destruction Book 1) Page 11
