by Reiter
“The gods love a dreamer,” Jocasta replied.
Hennix stepped forward, clapping his hand down on Deolun’s shoulder. “Actually, Captain, he’s right. He can’t speak for us. But it just so happens that this time he almost hit the nail squarely on the head. We’d like to apply for positions on your crew!” Bruveia was quick to nod the moment Jocasta looked at her.
“I am astounded to be addressed in such a fashion,” Tuitonn remarked.
“I’d rather not ass–”
“To think I have not already made myself perfectly clear in this regard!” the orb glowed brightly as it spoke. “Haven’t I pummeled enough?! What must I do to prove my loyalty here? Shall I lobotomize the entire crew?”
“Glowball, stand down!” Jocasta barked. “You made your point. I just wanted you to know there would be no hard feelings if you wanted to go ashore. The same goes for all of you.”
“I speak for the three of us,” Teela said, gesturing back to Bantar and Amosse. She sounded as if she were on the verge of venting her rage. “Z saved our lives; a total stranger, and he risked his neck for us. The asshole we trusted to instruct us was just using us to find the next big thing! No offense, but I hope we’re through our basic training before we find him!”
“The line of people wanting to smoke that old fuck is long and distinguished,” Annsura asserted herself to speak before Jocasta could respond. “There isn’t a soul on board that doesn’t owe Z a huge debt of gratitude. That will not change how we do things on board this ship! The Captain made the call yesterday, she makes the call today, and she’ll be making the call tomorrow. So relax. If the opportunity falls in your lap, so be it, but I won’t brook with crew stomping over crew to get to a kill!”
Jocasta smiled and nodded to her Second Mate. “Well said, Cutter, and thank you.
“Anyone else,” Jocasta called out. “The departure package comes with a gun, a blade, fifty thousand credits and a hearty handshake goodbye.” Jocasta gave herself a silent count to ten. “Very well,” Jocasta said as she started for the doors. “Siekor, grab a couple hopefuls and make ready to receive incoming cargo from the Governor. The man has been good enough to allow us to keep our permanent pass key in and out of The Territories, and give us a smokescreen reason for being there. Ask Satithe where to lock it down.”
“Aye, Captain!”
“Cutter, get these hopefuls into training. I want them crying by suppertime. If you can’t make ‘em cry, push them to the next level.”
“Aye, Captain!”
“Shotgun, I have got some very bad news for you, son, report to the main computer room and I’ll read you in.”
“Already read in by Satithe, Captain,” Kryltane replied. “I’d say it confirms what we discussed.”
“Then find me a way to protect us from the Jockeys, Mister. See if you can make Satithe faster!
“Tolip, Murder, Mayhem, Dugger and Llaz, report to the simulator. I want schedules for head-to-head fighter pilot combat runs on my desk before dinner. If any of the hopefuls show some skill, put ‘em to the grill and cook ‘em up right!”
“Aye, Captain!”
“And Doc, get a drone to get that piece of shit off my ship!”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Sati, my apologies for the mess,” Jocasta said as she started for the door.
“I appreciate the consideration, Captain.”
“All right people, you have your orders,” Annsura said as the doors closed behind Jocasta.
“Is it me, or was that the Captain?!” Siekor said to Llaz as he turned to leave.
“Man, I just hope we find Z fast!” Llaz whispered his response. “Because I feel for the fools that get in her way before she finds him!”
Jocasta made it all the way to her office before she showed any sign of emotion. The doors opened and Goldie walked into the room behind her. She stood in front of her desk, gazing at Alpha.
“Gods, I hate this!” she hissed. “I did so much all on my own before I even met the man. Now I feel like I can’t even cross the room without him!”
“You had better cross that room,” Goldie warned. “Can you imagine how pissed he’s going to be if you don’t?” Jocasta barked a strangled laugh at the premise and nodded.
“Yeah, he might even speak with contractions again. I’m going to tell you something, Goldie. The best I’ve ever felt in my life came when I felt my absolute worst!”
“That’s usually how it goes, Captain.”
“I was dead… you hear me? All but dead, waiting for some prick of a TC to come and just end me. I spent the last of what I had to fuck up his owner and his owner’s little bitch of a daughter! You know, just a nut-crunch for that bastard to chew on as he killed me. I jumped over the railing of their little in-estate arena thinking to myself, ‘this drop should do the trick’. I eye the ground… and there he is… my Z, coming up to catch me! He had ripped through somebody’s teleportation wake, or some crapstack like that, to come and get me.
“And gods, he looked pissed! I mean, the kind of anger that could cook an egg in its shell! He wrapped his arm around me and I let go. By the time my head was clear, I was home and my First Mate was taking care of me.
“Now I stand here, looking at one of his greatest creations, and I’m left to wonder one thing: am I good enough to catch him?”
Goldie eased forward and spoke softly. “If I may speak plainly, what do you think was going through his mind when he was doing all of that stuff to come and get you? You know, aside from the formulas on how to stretch, bend, and entangle reality!” Again Jocasta was made to laugh, and this one she was able to hold a little longer.
“You know, that might have been the thing that made him the maddest,” she remarked. “… someone making him do all that extra math, and what if he’d got the first set of calculations wrong? He probably would have wound up in a bathhouse with a dildo in his hand wondering what sort of readings that probe could make!” Both of them laughed, and Jocasta thanked Goldie. She then reminded him that even as gifted as he was, Annsura not knowing what those gifts were made it hard for her to use him. Like it or not, he too had to report for training. The doors closed behind him and Jocasta picked up Alpha. She let her fingers drift over the surface of the device that was surprisingly warm to the touch.
“I know,” she whispered. “I know. I miss him too! But we’re going to find him, you and I. I promise you that! And I don’t make many promises.
“Satithe, open my vault please,” she requested. Jocasta walked behind her desk and to the wall where her vault was opening. While it was not wide enough to store the Osamu horizontally, it was tall enough to put it away vertically. She set it down gently next to the sextant and other materials, not even seeing that they were still there. “You wait right here, Alpha. Momma’s gonna go get our Z!”
Taking her seat at the controls, Jocasta waited for the all-clear signal to be sent to the Bridge. Thirty-five tons of material had been stored aboard her ship, taking up nearly all of one of the medium-sized cargo holds. Scans had been made of the crates and nothing irregular had been found. Jocasta had no idea what anyone was going to do with that much lead and aluminum, but she did not really care. If anything, it served as all the more reason why her ship was as large as it was. She had signed the delivery forms and the port-lock had been removed before she could reach her pilot’s chair.
“Power to stations,” she commanded. She closed her eyes as she heard the maneuvering thrusters warm up and test fire. The master generator was also churning up extra power for the primary drives. Deolun was no Z, but he did his best to run a tight section.
“Power to stations… confirmed,” Silnee reported. “Port-lock has been lifted and we have mobility.”
“Drives at my command,” Jocasta requested as she put on and tightened her gloves. The ship had a different feel to it, but she was about the business of correcting that. It was just going to take some time… and a few rushed calculations.
“Aye, Captain,” Deolun called out. “You have full drive capability.”
“I don’t even know why I’m getting worked up over this,” she thought. “We’re all liable to just stumble into this place, piss off some heavy-hitter and square off in a fight we can’t win. Soon as we’re ready to throw in the towel, here comes Z with a brand new protractor! He’s got new ideas for tools, equipment, and a brand new ship for me!” Jocasta smiled at the thought of it, snorting once before she covered her mouth. She took hold of the controls and composed herself. “Yeah, I could live with that!
“Here we go, people,” Jocasta announced. “… through the Black Gate!”
I love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.
Og Mandino
(XIII)
She gasped, opening her eyes and reaching for her blade. His hand was fast enough to catch her wrist before she could reach her weapon. The room was so dark, she could not clearly see who it was that held her, just the outline of his frame; tall, lean, touched with time, but surprisingly young in spirit.
“You know I am faster,” he spoke in a very calm and soothing voice as he slowly opened his hand. “… and your inability to remove your hand tells you I am physically stronger. Yet still you live, and all I have done is prevented you from arming yourself. Trust won?” She looked as he massaged her wrist where he had grabbed her. She allowed him to ease the feeling of pain away from her skin. The technique was not entirely physical, which piqued her interest even more. “I was so hoping to have words with you.”
“Consider it a good beginning then,” S’Vrili said after her wrist was released. “That is, aside from the intrusion into my chambers, which isn’t necessarily an easy feat to perform in itself; a fair beginning indeed. People such as you and I do not need names, but I find conversations are more cordial when they are included. I am S’Vrili.”
“I am Nugar,” he replied, creating a bit of light in his open palm. The woman who had been called the desert witch by Jocasta and her crew smiled brightly and moved slightly away from the edge of the bed, patting the mattress.
“Aahhh, you are the one who trained the Star Chaser!” she stated. “You are invited to sit.”
“Thank you,” Nugar replied, releasing the light which held its place and its brightness. “And I apologize for the intrusion.”
“Forgive this intrusion,” S’Vrili replied, taking Nugar into a very quick embrace.
Her lips pressed against his mouth and he was pulled into a place where his thoughts and emotions were sampled, acknowledged, and answered in an instant. His hands found her form to be inviting; he had never known the feel of a woman’s skin in such a fashion, and he was eager to take in more of her essence, her passion, and her body. Her back fell to the bed and he was on top of her in the next moment.
“This makes things simpler,” she panted.
“Oh yes!” he agreed. “Indeed it does!” Nugar felt young again. It reminded him of the time he had first climbed into a spacecraft to pilot it. His ishah had always been the one who fed his thirst for the Void. She had smiled when others frowned, and her eyes had been the only ones that welled up with tears when he announced he wanted to become a Traveler.
“Much simpler,” Nugar said as his hand closed around her neck. “You are quite right, milady, it was not an easy feat to attain your chambers. But then again, these aren’t your chambers, are they?” S’Vrili’s eyes flashed wide with shock at the actions taken and the strength Nugar possessed.
“You have taken refuge in the guest house of a friend. The silks you have hung separate your room from the mainstream of the realm, allowing you this… vanity! I had to assume your shape, form, and essence in order to achieve entry. And how did I manage that, you might ask.” With his free hand, Nugar summoned his Osamu which was glowing bright with starlight. “Let us simply say, I am a very quick study. I taught the Star Chaser, and the Star Chaser has taught me. The moment you made contact with him, I made contact with you!”
S’Vrili struggled against the iron that masqueraded itself as an arm, and there was no longer any structure to her actions, only panic and the need to breathe. She kicked and flailed, but Nugar was unmoved. If anything, he was spurred to lessen his grip only slightly to allow her one last gasp before cutting off her airway again.
“The Stars are different here!” Nugar proclaimed. “I am different here! In my system, my people are subservient to the Malgovi but here, the Vinthur could rule! And yes, the notion of how upset my student will be to discover this development has struck me, but Fate has come and she has granted me passage on this trek.
“The Traveler. The mighty Star Chaser has been bound, captured, and petrified! With the pathetic plans cooking away in the brain of the Terran who means to save him, he will expire without ever having seen the changes that are coming about.
“You see, the fate of humanity was put into the hands of the Star Chaser, and he has fallen. Give him a warm greeting when next you meet!”
Struggling as much as her body could, S’Vrili was not able to make the man even budge. Every effort she mounted was negligible at best. It was then that she noticed a pair of eyes looking back at her when she looked at the rod.
“It is absorbing everything I do,” she realized.
“Yes, S’Vrili, I have seen much about you and your kind, but only because of the Osamu he built for me. Within its many folds I hold on to his ire and pain. The emotions he would never stoop to express. The loss of his wife and child… the loss of his home as he committed himself to the Rims… and the loss of his heart when he breathed life into those clones!
“And you are wrong yet again,” Nugar hissed. “My Osamu is not absorbing everything you do, it is absorbing you entirely!” In a flash of light, the struggling Fazbred woman was no more. The oil lamps, the silk scarves, all the affectations of the room began to fade, and Nugar was soon floating in the blackness of space. Only the young male form of light was with him; a starling of incredible power.
“Are you certain that was for the best?” the young entity inquired. “There is so much which is still unclear to me.”
“I am not surprised, young Starling,” Nugar answered. “But I am glad you sought me out to resolve this matter. I am forever your most loyal servant!”
“But you actions have destroyed one who has seen this creature the one that the Stars of the Rims cannot see. He was at Black Gate, where their eyes are dulled by that aperture… it is believed he is now in the Prism Baronies where they cannot see at all!”
“There is nothing to see, my masters,” Nugar asserted. “He does not enter this place under his own power and it is unlikely he will be alive much longer and with his death, the power of my people may yet be restored. May I return to them now?”
“Of course, good Traveler and Osur. Return to the Vinthur, and take them back into the light that once empowered them.” The light from the starling grew to a near blinding intensity before it faded.
Nugar set his feet down on the rug of the bedroom, looking at S’Vrili’s body in the middle of the bed. His eyes squinted as his head tilted to the right. “This is going to be difficult,” he muttered as he pointed his Osamu at her body, removing the stasis field he had erected. As soon as she could move, S’Vrili gasped for air, grabbing at her neck that was no longer held. She coughed and wheezed, rolling off the bed. A force field formed over her blade before she could reach it.
“I’d like to explain,” Nugar offered as he made a slow approach. S’Vrili’s hand clutched at the first thing she could find and hurled… a pillow. As it struck Nugar in the face, he caught it and smiled. “If nothing else, it was an accurate throw.”
“Get away from me!” S’Vrili said in a strained whisper.
“Now you’re just being foolish,” Nugar claimed. “You’re letting a little thing like asphyxiation get between us… and we started off so… vigorously!” S’Vrili did not pay attention to what the Vint
hur Osur was saying, and looked for something else with which to defend herself. “I’m not going to let you arm yourself. That would be Dungias’ approach, not mine.
“And notice that is the first time I mentioned his name,” Nugar added. In her panic, S’Vrili stopped, made a very quick review of their encounter, and stopped to look at Nugar. “I would not speak his name while we were being watched.” S’Vrili looked at the walls of the bedchamber. She could feel outside the room, but it was not the guesthouse she perceived. It was a place of incredible power and potential. “You will owe your friend for new floors, new walls, the ceiling, and of course the furniture, but other than that, I left everything intact.”
“Why?”
“I had to bring you to a place where we could talk without even the Stars being able to overhear our words,” Nugar explained. “Right now we’re in the holding facility of the Founders school, called The Campus. It was designed and continuously redesigned by–”
“Zeu Rex?” S’Vrili guessed.
“And family,” Nugar added. “It would seem that we keep the strangest of company. You have your demons, and I have Stars impersonating young starlings of my home region in order to gain information about Dungias. This particular young celestial lad is really Poma, and she is a Star of the Rims.”
“So, you’re saying you weren’t trying to kill me. All of this is some sort of ploy?!”
“The Stars conspire against you, S’Vrili,” Nugar declared. “That is how the demons knew where to find you. And if they conspire against you, there is a chance–”
“They’re going after Dungias as well,” she quickly concluded before healing her neck.
“The Rims are tumultuous!” Nugar declared. “I have never seen the like. The Stars have taken council in and among themselves!”
“You say that like it’s weird,” S’Vrili noted.
“I have never seen it done among the Chorus of the systems of my people,” he admitted.
