The Plasma Master

by Brian Rushton

  Chapter 18

  “Are you sure about this, Ned?” Gerran Marnax was not at all pleased with Ned’s decision.

  “It’s the only way. Do you trust the Brenarians?”

  “Yes, I do. I’ve known Aldrus Brenar since before he became leader of the planet, and he is completely trustworthy. If we decide to hold a meeting there, the Brenarians will make sure it is fair and safe – to the best of their ability. Kayleen Rax, on the other hand, will try to capture you and take the Shield Crystal, just as she did before. There’s no telling what kind of trick Dark Viper will think up for this. You let her pick the place, Ned!”

  “No I didn’t. I’m letting you pick the place, or at least I’m waiting until you agree on it. If you don’t, I won’t go.”

  “You seem to think that I have some insight into this situation that you don’t, but I’m not sure that’s true. We can trust the Brenarians – I’ll give you that. But I’m not saying I trust the situation.”

  “So you’re saying it’s up to me?”

  “Yes, I suppose that’s what I’m saying.”

  “Then I’ll go. Remember, General, I have the Shield Crystal. I can’t even put it down; there’s no way anyone’s going to take it from me. And even if they somehow manage to throw me into space, my suit has over a day’s supply of oxygen. You can fly in with whatever ships you want as soon as the meeting’s over and pick me up. And if they take me to Venom, then maybe I’ll get a shot at Viper, although I don’t think they will.”

  “And just what, exactly, do you think will happen, Ned? Do you really think Kayleen Rax just wants to talk to you?”

  “I can’t say I do. I also can’t say I hope I do. If she pulls anything, I will just destroy her Crystal, and she can hope she escapes before it explodes. Maybe I can even get her to drop it, in which case I’ll bring it back and give it to you or Smardwurst or something! Anyway, whatever happens, I’ll win. I’m invincible. They can’t beat me.”

  “Well, Ned, it’s your decision. If you’re sure, then I’ll call Aldrus Brenar right away, and you can start meditating or whatever you think will help you.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “All right then. I’ll make the arrangements. But while you’re there, remember something. You’re not fighting to avenge Koral’s death, and you’re not fighting to gain power. You’re fighting to take a necessary step toward defeating an evil dictator and restoring peace to the galaxy, and if you don’t, then there’s a good chance that Dark Viper will destroy us all, including Earth and everyone and everything on it.”

  The General’s anxiety was evident, and Ned wanted to do something to ease it. “I never forget that, General. That’s why I’m here. I will come back from Brenaria, and I’ll be a better weapon against the Empire because of it.” Marnax did not look any less tense as Ned walked out of the General’s office. Nice try, though, Ned thought.

  Jenara was waiting for him outside. “X and I are about to meet with Captain Devorion. Do you want to come?”

  Ned said he did, and Jenara led him by the arm down a series of corridors to where X was waiting for them outside a closed door.

  “The squadron’s inside,” he said, “but I wanted to wait and make sure you made it. Captain Devorion is on his way over here from Iron Talon now. We might as well wait for him here, and then I’ll only have to introduce everyone once.”

  X and Jenara chatted while they waited, but Ned said only very little; he was preoccupied with his upcoming confrontation with Kayleen Rax.

  A lift pod door down the corridor slid open, and a tall man with wild eyes and a huge smile strode briskly over to meet them. “You must be Princess Trennon and X.” he shook their hands, then shook Ned’s as well. “And Ned Simmons. It’s good to meet you. I’m Ambelshack Devorion.” Ned remembered that he had seen Captain Devorion at the council meeting, but Marnax had not introduced anyone.

  “Good to meet you, too, sir.” Ned suddenly remembered that he was still wearing his battle suit, and he extended a thread of Plasma into his pocket to disengage it. Captain Devorion raised his eyebrows as the suit disappeared in a humming sparkle of blue.

  “Nifty suit!”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. Well, X, let’s meet your squadron.”

  X led them into the room where the other five Palandoran pilots were waiting and made the introductions. The first pilot was named Straker Dantorn. He was Anacronian by birth and had known X since his first days with the Anacronian military. The second was Liora Fenn, a woman from Deltarius. She had decided to leave her planet to follow Koral when he left the Empire, and none of the other squadron members had known her before then. The next two pilots were obviously not from Anacron, and their names seemed strange to Ned even in comparison to the others he had heard. Garfsmunkle Ingeldorfus was basically a five-foot-tall, green hairball with smooth arms and legs and a pair of enormous eyes. No other features were visible, but his deep voice suggested that there was at least a mouth concealed beneath the long, shaggy fur. Imbelsmift NooFrinchinSminchin, whose last name was almost never used by others, had a reptilian body covered with purplish-brown scales. A horn protruded from his nose, much like a rhinoceros. The final member of X’s squadron was Zhin Smud, who looked to Ned to be barely fourteen. In fact, it struck Ned that no one in the group seemed very old, although with Garfsmunkle and Imbelsmift it was difficult to tell.

  “We haven’t had many opportunities to fly in the past few years,” X was explaining nervously, “but we’ve used our simulator a lot. And we all do have military experience. I think with some training we could successfully aid the Alliance.”

  Captain Devorion nodded. “I believe you’re right. I went over your records before I came here, and I found them very impressive. Seeing that Palandora is not part of StarBlazer, I assume you will want to stay together.”

  “Yes, Captain, we would.”

  “You can call me ‘Ambelshack.’ Everyone does. Well X, I’m not sure what a squadron of six ships can do, but we take all the help that’s offered. I’ll upload some updated simulator programs to the Chelaris, and we’ll see how you do. By the way, what do you want to call yourselves?”

  “Back on Palandora X worked with dragons,” Zhin offered. “Since he’s our leader, why not call the squadron ‘Dragon Force’?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Liora said, and the other pilots added their assent.

  “‘Dragon Force’ it is,” X declared. “We look forward to serving with you, Ambelshack.”

  “So do I. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d better get back to Iron Talon.”

  As the remainder of Dragon Force filed out of the room, presumably to try out the new simulators back on the Chelaris, Ned told X and Jenara about his conversation with Kayleen Rax and his decision to meet with her alone. To his surprise Jenara actually showed excitement; she said that she was more than confident that Ned would succeed in whatever he had to do there.

  “Well,” Ned said finally, “I’d better go. I should probably work out some sort of a plan before I leave.”

  “I guess I’ll see you later then,” Jenara said, and Ned caught a hint of disappointment in her voice. “Where are you off to, X?”

  X was about to answer, but as he turned around to walk his friends out, he noticed that Zhin Smud had lagged behind the rest of his friends. “I didn’t mean to intrude,” he said rather shyly, “but I was just wanted to say thank you for all you’ve done for our planet, Mr. Shield Master. All of us are grateful. Whatever Dragon Force ends up doing, I hope it somehow helps you out.”

  “Well thank you, Zhin.” Ned didn’t know what else to say.

  “Come by and see us sometime, okay? We spend most of our time practicing, but we don’t mean to be out of sight all the time.”

  “I’ll do that. The first opportunity I get.”

  Zhin smiled, then disappeared out the door to catch up with his friends.

  “You know, X,” Ned said, “he’s right; they’re out of s
ight all the time. I’ve known you for quite a while now, and that’s the first time I’ve even seen them. They seemed pretty quiet, too.”

  “Yeah, I guess they are. Back on Palandora none of us had much in common with anyone, except that I knew Jenara and shared an interest in dragons with Koral. The rest of them pretty much kept together, though, so they’re not used to meeting new people.”

  “They seem kind of apprehensive about whether they’re going to be able to actually fight. Why don’t you all just go back to Palandora and be safe?”

  “We can’t do that!” Jenara cut in, then realized that she must have sounded selfish. “I mean, we could, but we have to offer all the help we can. Otherwise how can we expect to be helped in return?”

  “Jenara’s right,” X said. “They may be nervous, but I know them, and they’re some of the best pilots I’ve met. Remember, they used to fight for the Anacron military. No one becomes an Anacronian pilot without demonstrating exceptional skill. They’re good – we’re good – and we need to offer StarBlazer whatever help we can. It’s just like what you’re doing, really.”

  “I guess you’re right. You need to go join them then?”

  “Yeah, I probably should.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you whenever. Hopefully soon.”

  “Bye. And good luck, Ned.”

  X walked off, and Jenara turned to walk away too, but Ned called out to her. “Wait, Jenara. Maybe I don’t need to leave right away. It’s kind of early, but do you want to eat lunch?”

  “Sure,” Jenara said, but Ned could tell she was more happy at being asked that than she wanted to let on. That seemed strange to Ned, but the thought passed. They walked to one of Galactron’s dining areas and ordered a meal.

  “So what do you think Rax has in mind?” Jenara asked Ned as they ate.

  “If I were her, I’d probably try to sneak some people in to help her out, and then try to catch me. But I don’t see how she could manage to get anyone past the Brenarians. Marnax is very confident that they’ll make sure the arrangement’s safe.”

  “And you can’t bring any StarBlazer people?”

  “That’s pretty much the deal. I doubt the Brenarians would let any StarBlazer people anywhere near the planet until both Rax and I are gone.”

  “Interesting…” Jenara said almost to herself, and then lapsed into silence for the rest of the meal.

  Marnax was sitting at his desk when the com system beeped. It was Mirana. He put her on-screen. “Mirana, where are you?” She had left immediately following the conference.

  “Never mind, Gerran. I have some news you might like. The Empire is planning to send a quick norithanium supply from Urdis to Harandus Station in two days. It’s so far inside Imperial space that they figure they don’t need much protection. No more than ten Defender class ships. If you hurry, and if you bring enough ships…”

  “I could have the entire shipment for free.”

  “Right.”

  “It seems strange, though, don’t you think? Such a careless supply shipment on the very day when Ned is supposed to meet with Kayleen Rax?”

  Mirana shrugged. “Maybe it’s a coincidence and maybe it’s not. The fact is the norithanium isn’t really that big a deal to the Empire – they’ve got plenty more. And there’s not really much you can do about Ned’s situation anyway, is there? You can’t get near him until he’s done. I don’t care. Do what you want. I get forty percent of the profits if you take it.”

  “Where did you get this information anyway, Mirana?”

  She gave him a wry smile. “If you must know, I happened to be tapping into an Imperial computer on Reltin yesterday while I was refueling. Not very good security there. Not good enough, anyway. See you later, Gerran.”

  She actually smiled! Mirana never smiled in public, but every once in a while when she was talking just to Gerran Marnax, her old self would slip through for a moment.

  Marnax sighed. That poor girl…

  When Smardwurst showed up at Ned’s quarters later that evening, Jenara was with him. “The General has to leave on some urgent business,” Smardwurst explained, “so I’m to take you to the rendezvous point.”

  Ned smiled at Jenara. “And you’re coming?”

  “All the way.”

  “They’ll never let you come!”

  “I’m not part of StarBlazer, remember? I haven’t even signed a peace treaty. Verbal agreement only, as of now. Anyway it’s worth a try.”

  Smardwurst led them to a shuttle and flew them over to Green Scorpion. Smardwurst and Jenara had not had much of an opportunity to meet each other, so the three of them had some interesting conversations as they sat together in Smardwurst’s dining room that evening. Jenara was especially impressed with Guz. Eventually it got late, and the three of them headed off to bed. Before Ned reached his room, though, Jenara came running down the corridor.

  “Ned! Can I talk to you for a moment?”

  She seemed urgent, and Ned said sure. He took her back into the dining room and they sat down. “What is it?”

  “Well, I was just thinking. You’re going off to do something that has to do with this power of yours, right? In fact, your whole involvement in this war is centered in your use of the Anacron Plasma. Well, it just occurred to me that I really have no idea what the Plasma is. I mean, I know some of what it can do, but what is it? How do you control it?”

  Ned smiled. “That is a very, very good question. You heard Koral describe it; you probably know as much about it as I do.”

  “No I don’t! I haven’t ever used it. I don’t have the slightest idea what it’s like.”

  “I’m not sure I know what you’re getting at.”

  “Well, first of all, what does it feel like?”

  “It depends. If you were to, say, stab me in the arm, I’d feel the metal against my skin, along with sort of a warm sensation where the Plasma absorbed the force of impact. When I fire an energy bolt out of my hand, it’s almost like I’m extending myself outward. I can feel the Plasma leave my hand, shoot through the air, and hit something.”

  “So you can sense distant objects? Can you sense me?”

  “No, not right now I can’t. Only if I extend the Plasma into something.”

  Jenara was enthralled. She reached across the table and took Ned’s hand in hers. “Do it. Send the Plasma into my hand.”

  Ned had no idea what Jenara was trying to accomplish here, but he did it anyway. A blue glow emanated from his hand and spread outward until it engulfed Jenara’s hand as well. Jenara let go and pulled her hand a few inches away, keeping it withing the blue aura.

  “Now close your eyes. Can you feel my hand?”

  Ned closed his eyes. “No, not really. Well, if I move it around, sort of like I’m probing the area around me… yes, I guess I can feel it. It’s not like touching your hand, though. Almost more like hearing it.”

  “Hearing it?”

  “Sort of. I can tell it’s there, but I can’t tell what it is – or I couldn’t if I didn’t already know.”

  Ned let the light fade. Jenara looked down for a moment, then softly said, “Ned, do you think you could teach me to use the Plasma?” That took Ned completely off guard. “I know Koral said that you’d have to have a Crystal to learn, but maybe if you explained it to me …”

  “I don’t know. I’ll try.”

  “Because if you could teach other people to use it, maybe …”

  Ned pulled the Shield Crystal out from his pocket and held it in his open palm. “Here. Put your hand on this.” Jenara did so. “Now I’m going to charge the Plasma around it. Tell me if you feel anything.”

  She closed her eyes and concentrated, but felt nothing. “Try something else.”

  “Okay.” Ned picked up her hand again. “I’m going to send the Plasma through your hand. It will feel warm, but I promise it won’t hurt. Do you feel it?”

  Jenara smiled. “Yes.”

  “Okay. Now I’m going to pull the Plasma away,
but it will still be there, but not in real space. Does that make sense?”

  “Not at all. Just do it.”

  “There. Try to feel it now. It’s there, flickering, sort of like candle light. Can you feel it?”

  “Nothing. Can you?”

  “Yes. It’s just like I’m seeing it, but not with my eyes.”

  Jenara let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand.”

  “It’s not your fault. I don’t think it’s really a matter of understanding. Somehow I think control over the Plasma has to be given to you, and the only people who understood how died out a long time ago.”

  Jenara looked at him with an ironic smile. “And now the Plasma Crystals are being destroyed, one by one. Before long yours will be the only one left. And then what?”

  “I don’t know, Jenara. I have absolutely no idea.”

  Ned went back to his room then, but Jenara stayed up late, thinking. She was more than a little surprised to find that she felt lonely. It was not homesickness; her father was just a couple of days’ travel away, and X, who was like a brother to her, was even closer. It was not that she felt lost; for the first time in a long time, her life seemed to be going exactly where she wanted it to. The problem had something to do with her relationship with Ned. She really did care for him, and she was very confident in his ability to do whatever he had to, if he could only have the time to learn what he needed to first. But even though they enjoyed each other’s company so much, Jenara felt that there was a gap between them that she couldn’t begin to breach. Her purpose in asking Ned to explain the Plasma force to her had had nothing to do with spreading the power to a large part of StarBlazer; that possibility seemed simply too good to be conceivable, at least in the near future. What she had really wanted was to understand Ned a little better. Jenara believed she would give a great deal if she could have just a glimpse of what the Plasma was like. Even if she couldn’t do anything with it, to just know what it was would change things between them so much. For a brief moment Jenara considered giving up on the matter and having Smardwurst take her back to the Chelaris, but immediately decided against it. I’m just nervous because I don’t have any real work to do here yet, she told herself. I will soon, and then I’ll feel better. And things between Ned and me will work out. I just need to give it some time. Temporarily relaxed on that matter at least, Jenara finally returned to her room and drifted off to sleep.

  “Absolutely not. I don’t care what planet you’re from, there will be absolutely no escorts. The Empire has abandoned our world at great inconvenience to itself in preparation for this meeting, and I expect Ned’s allies – formal and informal – to do the same.”

  Jenara was not all that surprised. That was part of the reason she had hurried to talk to Ned the previous night instead of waiting a day. “As you wish, Ambassador. In a couple of days, then, Ned.”

  “I’ll miss you.”

  “Me too.” She gave Ned a quick hug and then disappeared back into Green Scorpion’s airlock.

  “Bye, Smardwurst. Thanks again.”

  Smardwurst smiled at him with something slightly less than amusement. “The last time you said something along those lines, a dragon and two Plasma Masters tried to kill you. Watch your back, Nedward.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “I don’t suppose you want me to leave my battle suit and weapons with you?” Ned asked the Brenarian Ambassador when he was aboard the escort shuttle.

  “We are not requiring that of either you or Blast Master Rax. Self defense is a reasonable precaution, and your suits are classified as uniforms.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Do not worry. We are taking every precaution for you both. If there is trouble, I can guarantee it will come from one of you.”

  Perhaps you’d like to hear a story about a place called Palandora, Ned wanted to say, but congratulated himself on resisting.