by Skyler Grant
"I had some serious internal injuries. I'm still almost held together by tape at this point. My implants are working again and Tourmaline is fine," Tamara said.
"Hurt. Failed hunt. Bad everywhere," Vess said, sounding defeated.
"Functional," Mara said.
"Same," Bravo said.
"Don't get all wordy or anything," Quinn said.
"We train hard for situations and days like this. We both got a beat down. We could go back into action today," Bravo said.
"Melody, what is the ship's status?" Quinn asked.
"Whatever Kalisa did hasn't just burned out every system. It rewired some of them, changed them. Some of it might actually be an upgrade, Captain, when we're up and flying again, but right now it's just a mess. If I had to do repairs myself it would be about three weeks," Melody said.
"If I really am getting my powers back to full strength in the next few days, I can repair us then," Jinx said.
"We got out, barely. Now we need to figure out what we do next," Quinn said.
"Any reason we wouldn't run? We were going to stick around with one last score until the heat got too high. If we didn't just get burned, I don't know what the definition of heat is," Taki said.
"Kadello is still a bad man doing terrible things," Jinx said.
"He made us an offer to join with him. He seemed cordial, reasonable. Said he is doing all he does as a patriot in defense of the Imperium," Quinn said.
"Do you know who he is? How he originally came to power?" Bravo asked.
"I don't. It matter?"
"It might. A minor scion of a minor house with a territory on the Rim. Invaders came from the darkness and burned his world and left. Kadello pressed the Emperor to get justice for his family. So insistently and so annoyingly that the Emperor sent him with a small force to do it himself."
"That is one way to get rid of people that annoy you," Taki said.
"Exactly what the Emperor probably planned. Four ships and a hundred soldiers. One ship and four survivors returned with Kadello two years later, in victory," Bravo said.
"Sounds like it must have been quite the story," Quinn said.
"No doubt. There are never a short of horrors in the dark. The Emperor started to throw Kadello at them on a regular basis. Somehow he'd survive, and he'd return in triumph."
"The stuff he hit me with? I think it was made for the Emperor. Did they feud?" Jinx asked.
"They were both proud, dangerous lions. Mostly they gave each other space. Kadello watched the borders and hunted the monsters that dwelt there, while the Emperor thrived in the Core," Bravo said.
"But he didn't have any marks. Not that I could see, or feel?" Quinn asked.
"There is more strength than magical. Kadello learned lessons from the foes he fought. He learned strength from them."
Quinn could see that. It seemed to him Kadello must have been far too good a student.
36
Ilsa had proved correct. It took three days for all of the magic-users to really start feeling like themselves again and as soon as they did they were able to restore the Centauri Bliss.
They still hadn't decided what to do about Kadello, or if they should do anything at all. However, an invitation had come from the clans and it was deemed worth accepting. A war moot, where grand plans and alliances were formulated. The Centauri Bliss could hardly refuse.
The gathering was much like every other clan get-together Quinn had ever seen—loud, disorganized and well-armed.
According to their instructions each envoy was allowed one guest, but their ship technically had three who qualified as envoys. Jinx and Kalisa were both clan leaders, and even if she was an unknown Ilsa bore enough marks to be considered one. Quinn, Dela, and Tourmaline accompanied them.
They were all armed, and it was considered polite in clan society anyway. Ilsa had kept Ilinar's sword, Kalisa had her daggers, all the rest now wore swords newly enchanted by Jinx. In addition everyone had a personal shield unit and energy guns.
There couldn't be more than a thousand guests on the station, although collectively it had to be more Chaos runes than Quinn had ever seen.
"How many Unshackled are here?" Quinn asked Kalisa.
"Most of them, I imagine. A war moot for discussing the greatest war in centuries. Everybody will want to have a voice," Kalisa said.
"How does it work? Will there be a meeting?" Tamara asked.
"Nothing as formal as that. We'll check in and have open hours. Others will check in and have open hours. We'll talk, and in some cases we'll fight, although not to the death," Kalisa said.
They were getting a lot of looks, or at least Quinn and Jinx were getting a lot of looks. It was no mystery why. They were each a freak of this gathering in their own way.
"What are people hoping to gain?" Quinn asked.
"There is never going to be a master clan war plan, it simply isn't our way. It doesn't mean there aren't alliances, and if there are alliances, then the division of loot," Kalisa said.
"So no real hopes of us stopping the war entirely then," Jinx said.
"No, if we wanted to spend the entire time arguing for that, we lessen the number of clans who would go against the Imperium. I think there are better uses of our time," Kalisa said.
"Kalisa! I'd heard you had new friends. Why don't you introduce me?" said a woman approaching them.
The woman was beautiful, her hair an unnatural and almost metallic hue of silver. It fit with her outfit, thin wiry bands of silver curving alone one side from calf to throat, her other half bare. Quinn thought he counted six runes and reminded himself partway through the counting he really shouldn't stare.
"This is Talla, the Silver Flash," Kalisa said. "Jinx, the Queen of Thieves. Ilsa, Mistress of Beasts, and guests."
"I don't know you. Why don't I know you?" Talla asked, looking Ilsa up and down thoughtfully.
"I'm from another universe," Ilsa said.
"Yet another thing that shouldn't be possible," Talla said, her gaze shifting to Quinn's hands. "You've always been ones for pushing the limits, Kalisa, but this? It is just delightful."
"Isn't it? Talla is a friend, of sorts. A keen scientific mind once, not that she uses it much these days. She still rather enjoys catastrophe, which often goes hand in hand," Kalisa said.
"Meaning I love trouble, and since you promise to be a lot of it I just had to come over and say hello. Ansley and Tobon are both here if you want to get drinks later," Talla said.
"I'd like that. It has been too long," Kalisa said.
Quinn found this whole thing a little weird. While he knew that not all Unshackled were like Ilinar, they were apparently far from faceless adversaries—and some were even now part of the family. It was hard to picture their society, ancient friendships and feuds, and the whole deal.
Talla gave Kalisa a tight hug and then made her way off.
When they'd docked they'd been given directions to one of the stations barracks. Soon enough they were checked in. Each envoy had their own room so they got three.
They checked out one to have a moment with somewhere quiet to talk. Quinn was surprised how large the room was, the bed massive, and the bath could fit eight if they were of a mind to be friendly.
"This usual for clan lodgings or do these things get ..." Quinn asked.
"A war moot gets people fighting, verbally, physically. You get hormones pumping like that and soon you have them fucking too," Kalisa said. "Not that it's mandatory."
"So besides you getting to hook up with old friends, what are we doing here? What are we hoping to accomplish?" Tamara asked.
Kalisa shrugged. "What do you want? The leaders of the biggest clans are here. Most of the Unshackled are here. We want help to take on Kadello, we can find it here. We want our lands protected, we can arrange it here."
"Am I going to be a problem?" Jinx asked.
Kalisa said, "Depends on how you mean that. Been a long time since most of the Unshackled fought an Order ma
ge like you. Others never have, and they're going to want to."
"Do I have to fight?" Jinx asked.
"No," Kalisa shook her head. "We're under a peace banner here and it will be respected. That said, you should. No fights to the death. Decline and you'll look weak, accept and you'll look strong, and the more wins you put behind you, the stronger you'll appear. Plus, for even agreeing to a duel, you can often get something as compensation and more if you win."
"I'm glad of all that training," Jinx said wryly. "I don't mind the practice either."
"There are others here we should meet. There is an expert or two I want to look at Quinn. We should at least talk to those putting together war bands," Kalisa said.
It was going to be a strange few days. Quinn was looking forward to it.
37
The twins were uncanny—they also weren't twins. Wynn was actually eight women at the moment, all perfectly identical except for different locations of a rune upon their bodies. Dark hair and piercing green eyes that looked Quinn up and down.
"He's a mess," Wynn said to Kalisa.
The others were off on business today. Ilsa and Tamara negotiating matters on behalf of the family, Jinx was fighting one battle after another. That left Quinn tagging along with Kalisa.
"I'm well aware that he's a mess, but I thought that if anyone could help it would be you," Kalisa said.
"Are you some kind of doctor?" Quinn asked.
"Not hardly," said one of the Wynn's.
"It should be obvious."
"What we are."
They completed each other's sentences. Of course they did.
"Codependent?" Quinn asked.
"Funny. He's funny."
"Take off your clothes."
Quinn shot an imploring look to Kalisa who shrugged.
"If you want help I'd do what they say. They don't have to give it," Kalisa said.
Right. Quinn just didn't much like getting undressed in front of strange women, especially with one of his wives present. It either gave all sorts of the wrong idea or required awkward explanations.
Quinn stripped down.
Fortunately, though perhaps insultingly, the Wynns didn't even seem interested in his arousal. Instead they circled him with an almost clinical detachment.
"Notice the fourth line?"
"Interconnected. But I don't see where it goes."
"Two?"
"More than that, I think."
"What are they even doing?" Quinn asked Kalisa.
"The twins are experts on splitting, recombining. They got their name when they got their first rune and there were only two of them for a good century. They've gotten better since then," Kalisa said.
"Doesn't eight runes make them one of the strongest of you? Why have you never mentioned them?" Quinn asked.
"Because we don't fight. We're pacifists. Rare in the clans," one of the Wynn's, pausing to face Quinn with her hands folded over her chest. "Tell us about you. What do you do? How did you become this way?"
"I got my original powers from Kalisa when we slept together. I was married already to an Order mage, so she really had to push things," Quinn said.
"Meaning I rode him until he was half-crazed and I was the most important woman in the universe to him," Kalisa said.
"Fun," said one of the Wynns behind Quinn.
"But you don't have her abilities," said the one standing in front of Quinn.
"No, even then she started to break apart into a dozen different women to me. More. I was seeing her in other universes bleeding into this one," Quinn said.
"Other universes?"
"Like the might-have-beens when you do a Runestone jump. Pretty much exactly the same thing, I think now. Those realities are all real worlds and I can see them, touch them," Quinn said.
"Not like us," said the front Wynn.
"Not like us at all."
"But similar. You can see the connections."
"Go on. Something more happened. Your runes?"
"I got the Chaos rune the first time I managed to bring a group between universes with the help of an artifact," Quinn said.
"Yes, yes. You pushed your power for the first time and discovered a new manifestation. The other one?"
"It was from a magical font of energy. One of my wives and our baby was dying after she fought a version of herself from another universe. I sort of connected those two in order to save them," Quinn said.
"Aha. You should have thought of that yourself, Kalisa."
The Wynns surrounding Quinn flickered and vanished, and a single one walked from behind him, her flesh adorned with the full eight runes.
"If I didn't have some idea it might be the case, I wouldn't have come to you. Are you sure? If you are sure, can you help?" Kalisa asked.
"For payment, we want a phasic multiplexer. One capable of handling twelve bands," Wynn said.
"Ambitious aren't you? I can't promise anything but to do my best," Kalisa said.
"Neither can we," Wynn said.
"Would you care to do some explaining to the person this is all about?" Quinn asked.
"You are something akin to us. You aren't just perceiving these other realities, your interaction with them has had, and will continue to have, consequences," Wynn said as she split into two, each with four runes.
"You are taking on attributes from them. Specifically when you combined aspects of two versions of your wife, you also combined aspects of two versions of you," said the second Wynn.
"Although there are also less dramatic combinations. We detect over a dozen connective threads stitching you together," said the first Wynn, before she split into another two just as her double did the same.
"So how do I stop it?" Quinn asked.
"You don't," Kalisa said with a half smile. "You're not technically an Unshackled, but that is a matter of convention, not accuracy. You're a first generation power just like me, just like Wynn here."
"We didn't choose to be ... us," said one of the Wynns, before she fractured once more to become eight again.
"You don't even want to know what this does to our love life."
"Try to find a one bedroom, eight bathroom house."
"If we're not here to cure me, then why are we here?" Quinn asked.
"Can I borrow a knife?" one of the Wynns asked Kalisa. Accepting the dagger, she drew the enchanted blade hard across her arm. Only the shallowest of cuts resulted, although Quinn saw it mirrored on all of the eight.
"You are dying because you are a merger of two currently incompatible halves. But the same thing killing you can save you. That death can be distributed across the network of Jade Quinns," said a Wynn behind him.
"We will teach you what we can. We expect our multiplexer."
"You'll have it," Kalisa said.
38
"This isn't working," Quinn said in frustration, half an hour later.
Quinn had been trying to reach out his perception into alternate realities while linking with Wynn, hoping that she could guide his perceptions. But while their powers might in some ways be similar, so far they were simply not similar enough.
"How do you even have a single mark when you can't do something so simple?" said a Wynn, stalking back and forth peevishly.
"You're both going to give me pushback, but what about a sexual connection? It was how Quinn originally manifested his powers," Kalisa said.
Wynn wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"What was that for? Not that I want to, but I'm not that bad," Quinn said.
"You saw the knife trick."
"Now imagine your cock is the knife."
"Split across up to eight of us."
"Sex isn't fun. It's frustrating."
"You do have it rough," Quinn had to admit.
"You also aren't getting any results. You aren't even getting a promising hint of results," Kalisa said.
"There is the little thing about marriage. I know with the whole Bravo and her family thing sex out of marriage is a li
ttle weird right now, but still," Quinn said.
Kalisa gave him a long look. "Right. Like I make the call to Tamara right now and say it is to save your life. You know what she'll say. You want to push it, I'll find something tempting enough to bribe Wynn into marrying us, but I don't think it necessary."
"I don't even think the ship has the room," Quinn said, rubbing at his forehead. "You said I'd get fine. Eventually, you were sure of it."
"I still think that. But we also recently had a badly weakened Jinx for days and you almost died," Kalisa said.
"You are assuming we are a yes," Wynn said.
"This is about the only chance you're going to have to fuck anything remotely close to yourself and you know it. You'd do it even if I weren't paying you," Kalisa said.
"Talk to Tamara. If she agrees ..." Quinn said.
"Fine," Kalisa said, rising from her seat and walking out.
"Weird, right?"
"This may help."
"We hope you find the idea as exciting as it appears."
Quinn glanced down. Right. Even with Kalisa out of the room that organ wasn't in retreat, which meant he was actually excited at the idea.
It didn't take long for Kalisa to return.
"She agreed, of course. With the sincere and ardent urging we not bring home another wife," Kalisa said.
Right. That was that then.
Wynn's bed was large, although even with that all eight of her made a tight fit. Still, they managed.
Quinn stretched out on his back in the center as he was surrounded by a tangle of identical women.
The Wynn that crawled atop him had her rune located on her right breast, curving just beneath the lower edge. Wasting little time she took Quinn's arousal in hand, holding it steady as she lowered herself atop him. There was a faint tremble in her at that, and in all of those upon the bed. Wynn was also already wet—however much she might have been appearing disinterested, she clearly wasn't.
Kalisa stretched herself out in a chair, watching.
Wynn grasped Quinn's hand and moved it up to her breast, pressing it against her rune. There was a flash of power and a flicker.
