Vendel Rising Omnibus

by L A Warren

  He leaned down and kissed her temple. “You had only to ask.”

  “Thank you, Gregor.” She smiled at him while her stomach churned.

  Carek pushed his food around with a fork. “A few WOR should be adequate. If we had a total of five, it would provide a solid circle to work with.”

  “You need four more?” Gregor’s head tilted up.

  “It would be the best number to start with. Eventually we’ll need ten, but five is the minimum to form a link. We would need to run a few tests first.” Carek munched on a protein bar.

  Gregor glanced down at Elise’s forgotten plate. “Opés, you haven’t touched your meal.”

  “I’m not as hungry as I thought.”

  His eyes narrowed and silver glinted in the harsh light of the cafeteria. “Nonsense, eat up, opés. You need your strength.”

  “Yes, Gregor.” She grabbed her fork and picked at her meal.

  Carek and Gregor talked about the linking project. Carek described the progress they made and some of the things he wished to try with a group of WOR. Their conversation ebbed and flowed until they ran out of things to talk about.

  Elise’s plate was still half full.

  Gregor pushed back from the table but did not rise. “Continue, opés. We have time to wait while you finish.” He wiped his chin with a napkin. “So, Mr. Tusel, are you a jump-jet fan?”

  Her heart stopped.

  He knows!

  You’re paranoid, Alex said. There’s no way he knows.

  “Aren’t we all?” Carek’s green eyes flashed in the light. His attention landed on Elise then slipped away.

  “Absolutely,” Gregor said, “and can you believe the semi-finalists? Two men and four women. It’s going to have the fans going wild.”

  “We haven’t had a woman win since Jeena.”

  “Yes, what happened to her? She won ten circuits in a row and then dropped out of the races.”

  “She stopped racing to focus on her Pilot Conclave business.”

  Gregor leaned forward. “Did you know I bet against her every year but the last? I finally wised up and placed the Imperial bet on her. I guess that must have been what she was waiting for, because she hasn’t raced since she won that year.”

  “I believe there was more to it than that.”

  “Do you know her?”

  “My cousin knows her.”

  Gregor tapped his lip. “Really? How interesting. I didn’t even know she was on the Gambit until recently. It’s a shame she’s not in the jump-jet circuit, although, if she were, it would skew the betting. Everyone would bet on her and then when she won, who’d be able to meet the bets?”

  “She could fly veiled. Other winners have done that to keep the betting fair.”

  Elise pushed the food around on her plate. Her appetite had abandoned her.

  Gregor scratched the back of his neck. “It’s time to consider my pick and place the Imperial bet. I think all six are pretty fine pilots.”

  Carek coughed. “Yes, Sire.”

  “Do you have a favorite? Or maybe, with your connections, do you have an inside track on any of the pilots? Who is most likely to win? My picks don’t always win, but I believe it spices things up when the winner is able to take home such a large prize. Don’t you agree?”

  “Yes,” Carek said. “And it’s considered a great honor to take home the Imperial bet.”

  “So, who do you favor?” Gregor leaned both elbows on the table and glanced at Elise’s unfinished plate. “Opés, you need to eat. You’re looking a little pale.”

  Elise stuffed a pea into her mouth and focused on her plate.

  “I don’t have a favorite. I’m trying to stay out of the jump-jet races this year.”

  “Oh, right,” Gregor said, “I believe I know about that.”

  “Sire?” Carek’s voice cracked.

  Elise held perfectly still.

  “Didn’t you subsidize one of the semi-finalists? The novice on the circuit? What’s her call sign?” Gregor tapped his lip.

  “We had a falling out. I tried to revoke the entrance fee, but it was too late. I haven’t spoken to that pilot about her training, or her advancement, for several sun cycles.” Carek glared at Elise.

  She ignored him.

  “That’s unfortunate. She shows promise. Why did you have a falling out, if I might ask?”

  Elise shoved large pieces of protein steak into her mouth.

  Gregor looked down at her. “Slow down, opés, or you’ll choke.”

  She nodded and kept her head down.

  “Philosophical differences. I felt her priorities were in the wrong place and her loyalties needed redirection.”

  “I see. She is still competing, however. Must not have listened to what you said.”

  “She heard me. She’s just obstinate and wants to have it both ways. I believe she takes great risk.”

  Gregor laughed. “I know exactly what you mean.” He patted Elise’s leg for emphasis. “It’s amazing the risks a person is willing to take when the stakes are high.”

  She nearly choked.

  Gregor continued, “Well, the semi-finals start today and I need to place my bet. Perhaps I should put it on the long shot? What do you think?”

  “I wouldn’t presume to say.”

  “Please, Mr. Tusel. If you were me, and had to choose from those six pilots, would you place your money on the oddball long shot or the tried and true? I believe Malikai has won a few circuit finals in the past, although he doesn’t admit to it. He flies veiled, which leads me to believe he’s a previous jump-jet circuit winner or a lord. The other man, Sigour, has won once before, although he doesn’t fly veiled. Candice has come in second and third in the past two Imperial finals, and she won the Gambit fleet finals last year. Should I bet on her? Or your girl? I’m not as familiar with the other two female pilots.”

  “Sire, I can’t tell you who to place the Imperial bet on.” Carek’s eyes widened. He pushed himself back from the table. “And she’s not my girl. I don’t endorse her pursuit of a jump-jet prize. It’s foolhardy and irresponsible.”

  Elise fit the last piece of food into her mouth and tried not to choke as she swallowed.

  Gregor became silent. “Opés, why don’t you decide?”

  Elise glanced into eyes of steel that lacked any warmth. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

  “It’s a race. That’s all you need to know. Tell me, opés, who would you bet on? An established pilot or a fresh untried novice?”

  Elise followed the protein bite with a gulp of water. Malice chuckled in the blackness. Shriek was distant, she was preparing for the High Tender. Whimper had crawled away. Alex was missing, as usual.

  She took in a deep breath. “I always bet on the underdog. They have the most to lose and, therefore, are willing to risk everything to achieve their goals.”

  After a little while, he gave an odd appraising look. “I do believe you have a point. But, the price of failure can be incredibly steep.”

  She held him in a steady gaze. “It depends on the reward.”

  Gregor turned his attention back to Carek. “I need to think about it, of course. Betting has already begun on which pilot I’ll pick. Before the first race tonight, I’ll have to make up my mind.” He pushed back from the table. “By the way, Mr. Tusel, I appreciate you switching your shifts around to work with my s’vlor. I know nightshift can be difficult.”

  “No problem, my lord. It has been my honor. The Tank is relatively empty during the nightshift. It’s better not having too many people around while the Lady s’Lissa works. Less distraction.”

  Gregor waved his hand in acknowledgement. “Yes, of course. If you will excuse me?”

  Elise scrambled to her feet. “Goodbye, Gregor. Thank you for having lunch with me.”

  Gregor planted a kiss on her forehead. “Until later, opés. Perhaps, tomorrow night, you can dine with me in my quarters?”

  “Yes, Gregor.” She focused
on his boots, terrified to meet the steel of his gaze.

  Gregor took a step back. She didn’t breathe until he exited the dining facility and disappeared down the hall.

  Carek’s expression became distant. He crossed his arms. “You’re playing a very dangerous game, El.” He jerked his chin toward the way Gregor exited. “He should not be underestimated.”

  Elise gave him a mulish look. “Nor should I.”

  “You need to pull out of the jump-jet competition. It’s foolhardy.”

  She headed back to the immersion tank. “I’m not pulling out of the competition.”

  “You’re risking everything.”

  “No. I’m here, aren’t I? We’re making progress. Win or lose, stay or go, don’t take jump-jets away from me, Carek. It’s the only thing I have that’s keeping me sane. I swore to you I would work to save the Vendel, but I can’t save you if I lose myself in the process. If you don’t understand that, then you have no idea who I really am.”

  And who are you? Alex asked. Are you strong enough to win?

  I don’t know about that, but I’m determined not to lose.

  I suppose that will have to be enough.

  Elise stared at the surface of the glowing purple sea. It had to be enough, because she didn’t have anything else to give. And somewhere out in space, an alien presence sought to destroy everything she had come to love.

  “Let’s get back to work.” She dove into the purple sea, determined to never stop. Whether that was to save the Vendel, rescue the Earth WOR, or hold on to her sanity, were questions for later.

  It was time to turn things around.

  It was time to win.

  THIS IS NOT THE END!

  VENDEL RISING: VOLUME 4

  IT ENDS WITH A BEGINNING

  is next!

  Follow Elise’s journey with the Vendel as she seeks her revenge.

  Grab your copy now!

  It Ends With A Beginning

  Volume 4

  Part One

  Plans

  Prologue

  New Terra Histories by Malita s’Lissa s’vlor

  “Make the impossible possible.” These are the words my grandfather left me with. They whisper and echo in my head every day. But how do you make the impossible possible? This was my task, and I chipped at the mountain of impossibility until the first boulder fell. After that, accomplishing the impossible didn’t seem nearly impossible. My most potent weapon was perseverance.

  At some point, I think I was insane. Maybe? I don’t know. My memories are foggy. Perhaps there were several times when I passed that fine dividing line stretched between sanity and that darker place of madness. It's hard to know for certain.

  Tender Training.

  It’s an odd thing. The first time it nearly broke me. I remember a compulsive desire to please Gregor, resulting from my first experience with ten days of Tender Training.

  The second time? I lost something that second time around. It splintered my identity, but I believe I gained more than I lost.

  My entire goal had been escape. I fought for freedom. The fact that I faced an unsurmountable task did not dissuade me. The Vendel came to my home, they murdered nearly all of Earth's population, and they took a thousand of us as slaves. They were the very definition of evil, and I vowed to defeat them.

  Revenge against the Vendel filled my every waking thought and fueled my determination to never give up. No matter the pain the Vendel inflicted, or the deaths they caused, my purpose drove me forward.

  We would never make it back to Earth.

  I had to find a different solution.

  Not once did it occur to me that I might fail. I didn’t know what to do, but I kept moving forward, one small step at a time. As long as I was doing something, I believed a solution would be found.

  And that cloak of invisibility? My desperate wish to not get caught? Yeah, that had never been done before. It wasn’t a wish, but rather a manifestation of the WOR skill. While I failed to learn the very basics of the mysterious WOR-skill, my subconscious took over. No one told me what I did was impossible. I just did it.

  That’s me . . . making the possible out of the impossible. As for my sanity, have you met my sisters?

  Chapter One

  Gambit, Day 276

  Elise floated in the purple soup and stared at the rotating wheel of WOR-skill diagrams. The tangled lines made her eyes cross and she rubbed at her brow. Where she had made steady progress correcting Bar and Rod skills, those of the Wheel frustrated her with their complexity. For the tenth time she changed the inner ring of symbols and came up hard against a wall.

  Alex told her it was wrong, but Alex couldn't figure it out either. The silent conversations she had with her sister no longer seemed odd, but wasn't it? Speaking to yourself meant a person was crazy, right?

  Why would it be odd? And what do you mean crazy? Alex said.

  Can't you give me a little privacy?

  Not when you say I'm odd. It makes me think you don't want me here.

  I do. I do want you here.

  Alex's unique perspective when it came to dissecting the WOR-skill was invaluable. They had made incredible progress fixing thousands of years of what the Tenders had messed up.

  With a frustrated wave, Elise dismissed the entire box of WOR-skill diagrams. Her brain couldn't handle the challenge any more. The glowing lines faded into the purple soup. Her mind wasn't on the work, and a pinch of pain had settled behind her eyes.

  A pinch of pain?

  Isn't that laughable?

  That lunch with Gregor yesterday, as with any encounter, had irritated her and made her uneasy. It had resulted in intense pain at the end of the braklav as well.

  Gregor had hinted at things she shouldn't know, but did. Conversations of the jump-jet circuit dominated the conversation between him and Carek. They had gone on and on about the races and Gregor's placement of his Imperial bet, something she needed to win.

  But what the hell?

  It was as if Gregor knew about her and the jump-jets. But how could that be? If he knew she'd been escaping confinement to train in the jump-jet circuit, he would have locked that down. She would've been subjected to Tender Training for an entire Sun Cycle; thirty days of torment, if her deception had been revealed.

  But that hadn't happened. Good thing too. The jump-jet circuit was her only bid for freedom.

  She'd invested countless hours in perfecting her skill in the jump-jet. Her position in the Gambit race circuit had come at great cost and, as silly as it sounded, if she won, if she happened to win the entire circuit, she would have the means for escape. At least, that was the plan. Win the jump-jet circuit, use the winnings to purchase transport, evacuate the Earth WOR into the ship, and disappear.

  Her plan had holes. Huge gaping holes, but it was the only plan she had. So far, it seemed to be working. Except for Gregor's cryptic comments over lunch.

  But if he knew . . . if he suspected, wouldn't he have punished her by now? He'd done worse for far less. Gah! She didn't have the mental energy to waste on what ifs!

  And it's not like she'd avoided Tender Training. Gregor had sentenced her to an hour at the end of the braklav with High Tender Marcus. Not for anything to do with jump-jets, but because she'd used a familiar address for her good friend, Carek.

  Carek swam over to where she floated. “We’ll be having visitors.”

  Elise half heard what he said. “I closed down the WOR-skill diagrams.”

  No one could see what she worked on. It was a closely guarded secret, known only to her, Carek, and her closest friends.

  She moved over to the linking diagram. The initial three-dimensional representation had been comprised of ten separate diagrams; a mess concocted by the Tenders who sensed the fabric of the WOR-skill but failed to comprehend the true scope of it. She had condensed those down to four key nodes. She had then added a secondary layer of complexity.

  The construct now extended into two additional dimens
ions. The fourth and fifth dimensions extended off the four nodes along several spokes radiating from each node point.

  “Aren’t you curious who's joining us?” His brows lifted.

  “High Tender Marcus and Master Varlen visit often enough.” Elise shrugged.

  “Yes, but they are bringing others.”

  Elise stopped her inspection of the linking project. Her voice hitched. “What do you mean others?’

  “Evidently, the Emperor spoke to Lord vlor’Vardhal.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Gregor listened?”

  She barely contained her excitement as several shapes swam toward them through the purple soup. During that oddball lunch, where Gregor hinted at forbidden things, she'd made a request. It was something she required for her work on the linking project, and she'd made a valid case, but Gregor rarely took her recommendations seriously. He and the High Tender thought they knew everything about the WOR-skill and training WOR, when the truth was far different. Still, the fact he'd listened made her breath hitch.

  Off in the distance, three men towed six shapes clad in red down from the surface of the purple sea. She couldn’t make out who they brought, but smiled nonetheless. Gregor had listened.

  Master Varlen arrived first. She looked into the faces of the two women he brought with him and her hopes fell. Not Fifth Rank WOR. With nearly a thousand WOR taken from Earth, she didn’t recognize them. Both girls tried to smile in greeting, but the breathing apparatus clutched between their teeth frustrated their efforts.

  The small breathing tube wasn't required. She didn't have one, but visitors to the soup tended to find the act of breathing in the purple liquid terrifying. She remembered her first experience. Her breathing tube had fallen out accidentally and Carek had been forced to restrain her as she tried to shoot to the surface over eighty feet above. For several long minutes, she'd thought she would drown, until he forced her to take in a breath.