The loading of the transport took far too long for Sara’s liking. She knew the troops were moving as fast as they could, and she didn't want to push them too hard, after the last few days of intense battle. They had lost friends and comrades in the fighting, and some were still recovering, even if their wounds had been healed by the mages. They had lost over a hundred Marines and twice as many Elif. Sara felt some shame at her impatience when the long line of coffins was being carried aboard the transport.
She didn’t think to ask, but guessed that there were enough foldable coffins stored on the Raven to bury them all. That thought shut down any irritability her mind was trying to push. She was responsible for those deaths; they were her troops, and she had ordered them to the surface to defend a place they had never seen, and would never see again. One hundred and twenty-seven Marines were going home in a box because she had been too scared to complete the Familiar spell.
Alister gave her head a light smack from where he perched on her shoulder. She glanced his way, and he gave her a disapproving glare. She could feel his reproach at her train of thought, even if he didn't know the specifics.
This empathic link is going to take some getting used to, she thought, giving him a little nod and trying not to be too hard on herself.
After a few hours, the transport and the three dropships were loaded and ready to go. Sara and Baxter watched as the transport lifted off, folding its landing struts into its belly. The rumbling of the huge gravitic drives made her chest rattle till the transport was high in the atmosphere and gaining speed for orbit.
They were the last two to board the final dropship. Sara looked out the window at the smoking and abandoned city falling away, until it was obscured by clouds and distance, as the ship rumbled and swayed its way off-planet. Colony 788 would be remembered, if never visited again. It was where the second core had been discovered, full of plans from a long-dead, human civilization that had called the stars home. It was the place the first Teifen / Human battle had taken place. It was where the first War Mage in thirty thousand years had been born. It was the place where she had lost the first of her men.
She knew it would not be the last.
“We tried to have Ensign Boon do it, seeing as she was the one who installed the core in the first place, but the damn thing keeps throwing up an error message,” Chief Engineer Sabine said, frustration etched into his olive-skinned features.
Sara was standing in front of Cora’s tank on the engineering deck of the Raven. She looked over her shoulder at her cabin girl, Alicia Boon, who was trying not to be in anyone’s way and failing miserably.
“Oh, excuse me,” Boon said, stepping out of Caroline Green’s path, only to have Teichek ask her to move so he could plug a cord into the back of the console Boon had scooted behind. The small, blonde woman scowled at her predicament and took a step back.
Sara felt bad for her, but was also a little fascinated that she was able to handle and initiate the core that was now spinning happily in the box attached to Cora’s tank. She would need to talk with Boon more, once this was all over.
“Show me the error,” Sara said, stepping up to Sabine’s console and leaning over his chair to better see the display.
He pulled up a screenshot of the screen he was currently on, but in the center was a box containing a warning that read, ‘Unauthorized user attempt. Core unable to complete boot process. Final User required’.
Sara frowned at the message. “Is it talking about Cora? She would be the ‘final user’, right?”
Sabine’s shoulders slumped. “We don't think so. It’s pretty obvious that the controller needs to be in the tank as part of the boot sequence.”
“We’re picking up some brain activity,” Caroline interjected. “Cora’s interacting with the core. The readings were all over the place for the first twenty or so hours, then kind of dropped off to a pattern indicative of sleep, but with a repeating spike. Like it’s periodically looking for signal or something.”
Sabine nodded along with the technician’s report. “We think it’s talking about you,” he told Sara.
“Me? I didn't have anything to do with its installation. Why would it need me…” She trailed off as she thought about it. “Oh. The twin thing. Right. Genetically, we’re the same person.”
Sabine touched his nose conspiratorially. “Exactly.”
“That makes the Elif’s behavior about twins sort of make sense,” she mused.
“Uh, what behavior?” Sabine asked.
“The Elif refer to a set of twins as the same person. They understand that we think of ourselves as separate, but in their culture, twins are viewed as singular. They even have the same names,” Sara said, walking up to the tank and pressing a hand to the glass.
“That’s… odd,” he said.
Sara could almost feel her sister’s presence through the glass, but she decided the feeling was in her head. Alister wove his way between her legs, rubbing his cheeks on her ankles in solidarity.
“Okay, what have you tried so far?” Sara asked, still looking at Cora’s floating form. Her sister’s silver bodysuit caught the light as she gently drifted back and forth.
Boon stepped up at the question, snapping to attention. “The scanner, ma’am. I just pressed my thumb to it, and we got the error message,” she said, back rigid and arms straight by her sides.
Sara gave the young woman a warm smile. “At ease, Ensign. You’re not on trial.”
Boon relaxed, but only slightly. “Thank you, ma’am. I did my best. If I did something that put Captain Cora in danger…” She trailed off, not knowing exactly what the punishment for activating ancient tech would be.
Sara gave her a half-smile. “You did nothing wrong, Boon. In fact, I’m very happy to know that there is someone else I can trust to handle the cores. I’m sure your services will be needed again. I can't be everywhere at once.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” she said simply.
Sara turned back to the tank and examined the box containing the core. It was nearly identical to the one she had taken from the vault on Colony 788, but the lights around the edge were green instead of blue. She saw the scanner pad at once. “Here goes nothing,” she murmured as she pressed her thumb to the pad.
A green line rolled down the screen, scanning her. What it was scanning, she was not sure; she didn’t know what a thumbprint could tell the machine if it didn't have a database of people to connect the print to, but it did its magic, and the lights running around the edges of the box turned from green to blue.
Sabine gave a shout of triumph. “Now we’re cooking!” he yelled. His eyes were scanning left to right as he tried to read everything on the screen as it scrolled by. “It worked. Everything beyond basic systems is coming back online. Aether Amplifiers, thrusters, weapons, Aether cannons…” He read out each system as it booted up.
Sara was only half paying attention to him, watching Cora for any sign of life. She wasn’t sure what she would see, considering Cora’s body had been asleep since they first took command and initialized the tank, but she watched closely anyway.
“Her brain waves are returning to normal,” Teichek said, eyeing the readings. “She should be waking up any second.”
Sara held her breath, the moment drawing itself out like the pregnant pause of a bad actor.
Just as Sara opened her mouth to ask Teichek what was happening, Cora’s body spasmed. Her arms and legs jerked out as the muscles became rigid and tight. Her eyes snapped open, and she took a deep lungful of the fluid she was suspended in.
Sara leaned against the glass, her hands pressed flat to the cool surface, not knowing if Cora was in trouble, or if this was part of the process. Cora’s eyes rolled in her head until they caught Sara’s. The twins stared at each other until Cora’s lids became heavy, and her arms and legs relaxed. Then she drifted back to her normal fetal position, and her eyes closed once again.
“Is she okay? What happened?” Sara asked, panic in her vo
ice.
“I’m fine. Why? Did something happen? Wait, Sara? How did you get here?” Cora said over the speaker.
Sara nearly sobbed in relief. “Oh, man. Do I have a story for you.”
Cora was quiet for a breath. “Holy crap. It worked.”
“What worked?” Sara asked, confused.
“The core. I know what happened.”
“You mean the battle?”
“No,” Cora said. “I mean I know what happened to the ancient humans. I know how we got to Earth.” She paused. “The core downloaded all kinds of information into my brain. It’s like I have memories that aren’t mine. This is going to take some getting used to.”
Sara was relieved that Cora was awake again, but she didn't know if she liked the idea of the core implanting memories in her sister of its own accord. “Are you okay? It didn't hurt you, did it?”
Cora thought about it for a second. “No. It didn't hurt me. I’m just going to need a little while to get my head straight.”
The tension in Sara’s chest finally let go. “Good. I’m going to contact the destroyer in orbit and have them tow us back to Sol. I don't want you doing anything ‘til we are in safe space. Do you hear me? Nothing.”
Cora’s light laugh gave Sara a boost she didn't even know she needed. “I hear you, Captain. I won’t do anything but organize this mess in my head.”
“Good. We’ll talk later. For now, I need to get that destroyer on the horn.”
Chapter 3
The Raven bumped up to the hard point on the destroyer Regis, and the ship shuddered slightly as the docking clamps engaged.
“We have good connection, ma’am,” Ensign Connors said, releasing the thruster controls, and scratching at his short, auburn hair.
“The Regis is giving the green light as well, ma’am. They say they will be making for warp in seven minutes,” reported the ensign on comms.
“Thank you, Mezner. Let them know we are good to go on our end.” Sara sat down in her command chair and turned to Grimms, who was in the seat next to hers. He was going over something on his tablet, as usual. “I’m not used to the slower speed the rest of the fleet travels at. This ought to take a while.”
Grimms gave a grunt as he switched off the tablet and joined the conversation. “They’re estimating three days. The fleet has some upgrading to do when we get back.”
Sara smiled. “Thankfully we’re one step closer to getting the tank systems online. I have a feeling with the cores we have, making more is just around the corner. Though, I think Cora’s going to be too busy learning what her new capabilities are to be teaching anyone anything, so they will be on their own in that respect.”
“True enough. I’ve already begun setting up a series of tests for her, to be completed when we get back to the Sol System. It’s going to be an interesting few weeks,” Grimms said, patting the tablet.
Sara gave him a smile. He does like his procedures.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, as the timer that Mezner had put up in the corner of the viewscreen counted down to warp.
Alister jumped up onto Sara’s lap and bunted her chest with his head, wanting some attention. She began roughing him up with both hands, ending with him curled in her lap while she spanked him rather vigorously. Sara could feel through the empathic connection that he loved the treatment, though his loud purring was also a good indicator.
Grimms raised an eyebrow at her handling of the small, black cat, but said nothing.
“What? He likes it. He’s a weirdo like that,” she said, giving her familiar’s belly a scratch.
“If you say so, ma’am,” the commander said with a smile.
Sara was having a difficult time coming to grips with Alister being a pixie. She knew he was a man, but he was also a cat, and liked to do cat things. She would never even consider doing this to him when they met in the Aether, but here and now, he was having the time of his life. The next time they spoke, she would have to bring it up. At least he seemed to have dropped the morose mood he had picked up after the battle. He was probably just happy they got out alive.
The counter was down to three minutes to warp when she turned to Grimms again. “So, about Boon.”
“Hmm, yes. Boon. She’s an interesting case,” he said, readjusting in his seat to better look Sara's way.
“I had no idea she was a mage,” Sara said, resting a hand on Alister, as he purred with his eyes closed.
Grimms took a breath. “She’s not. She has some abilities, but never went to the academy, or had formal training of any kind. She came out of one of those religious compounds in western North America. They were not so keen on the idea of magic, and forbade anyone from using it. In her record, she stated that as soon as she turned eighteen, she left and joined the Navy. She told me that she was thinking about becoming a mage, but wanted to wait ‘til her tour was over.”
“So how did she have enough power to handle a core?” Sara asked, half to herself.
“It must have to do with her being a twin,” Grimms mused.
“She’s a twin?” Sara asked, eyes wide in shock.
Grimms frowned. “Yes, but her sister died when they were children.”
Sara leaned back in her chair, trying to work it out. If being a twin is the only stipulation to handling a core, then my having Alister had nothing to do with it. It was enough that I was a twin, because ships utilizing a core would recognize that authority. But Boon couldn’t initialize the core for Cora because it needed to be done by her twin, so it could recognize the bond between us. That’s why I needed to be the one to initialize the final boot up.
Sara sat up, “Wait. We’ve been thinking about this all wrong. Cores are artifacts for twins; it makes a lot more sense than requiring a War Mage on every ship. Or maybe Boon has the potential to be a War Mage, and the core somehow recognizes that.”
Grimms’ eyebrow rose once again, “If the core can recognize the potential, that would mean that being a War Mage is somehow genetic, not a matter of practice.”
Sara leaned her chin down on a palm, lost in thought. She got an idea.
“Do you think I should teach Boon the Familiar spell? We’re going to need War Mages to win this war, and so far, we don't know how to find them. I’m going to present the spellform to the UHFC in my debriefing, but you know how long they can take to make decisions.”
Grimms considered this before replying. “I agree that we will need War Mages. I just don't know that I like the idea of making them without approval.” He weighed his next words. “However, if she were able to do the spell and become a War Mage, we as a ship would be able to operate at a much higher potential. And you haven’t been forbidden from teaching anyone.”
“That’s because they don't know it’s an option yet. I just came into my powers yesterday,” Sara said, giving him a sly glance.
“Like I said; they haven’t ordered you not to.”
Sara nodded. “You have the bridge, Commander.”
Grimms gave a salute and a smile. “Aye, ma’am. I have the bridge.”
Sara got up, dumping Alister to the floor, where he stretched before following her off the bridge.
“You wanted to see me, ma’am?” Boon said from outside the open door of Sara's cabin, standing at attention.
Sara looked up from her tablet, where she had been doing some reading on Alicia Boon and her particular circumstances. Sara stood up from the couch and indicated the small table and four chairs, where she normally had her meals. “Would you like to take a seat, Alicia?” she asked, using her first name to let her know this was not a formal meeting.
Boon, however, didn't seem to understand the gesture, and stayed at attention. “I’m fine, ma’am. I wouldn't want to be an imposition.”
“Boon, get in here and close the door. This is not a formal meeting. I want to talk to you, and I need you to be honest with me,” Sara said with a sigh. She walked over to the small liquor cabinet and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of
something clear. After a moment’s consideration, she put the clear liquid back, and took out a brown one with a grin.
Boon stepped inside, and with the press of a button, the door swooshed closed. She drew a breath and took a seat at the table, not knowing what to expect.
“Why are you so nervous? We see each other every day. You’re my cabin girl, for crying out loud,” Sara teased, taking the seat opposite Boon and pouring a few fingers into each glass. She slid one across and indicated to the girl that she should drink it.
Boon, not knowing what else to do, sipped at the whiskey. She made a face that told Sara Boon was not a drinker. Then Sara remembered that the girl was only twenty, and—being the by-the-book kind of person she was—she’d probably never had liquor.
Sara smiled. This is going to be easy. “Drink it all. That’s an order. Do it in one gulp, it helps with the taste.”
Boon took a few breaths, and stared at the brown liquid like it was going to bite her, but she did eventually down the stuff. She even managed not to cough up most of it.
Sara grabbed a napkin from the small shelf of utensils above the liquor cabinet and threw it to Boon.
“Thank you,” she said, wiping the whiskey from her chin, and dabbing at the spot on the leg of her battlesuit.
Sara felt a little bad and gave her water to wash down the taste. “So, Grimms tells me you are thinking about becoming a mage?”
Caught off-guard by the question and the effects of the whiskey, Boon stammered, “Oh, uh. I guess so.” She wiped at her pants a second longer before her face turned red and she blurted out, “Uh, ma’am.”
“What are your plans to make that happen?” Sara asked, taking a sip of the whiskey herself. She licked her lips in appreciation. It was no craft beer, but still pretty good.
“Oh. Well, I was planning on testing into the academy when my tour finished.”
Sara could see that the flush on Boon’s cheeks had not abated, and figured the alcohol was loosening her up. “Your plan is to wait two years and then try to get in? Then what, serve another eight years in academy training?”
War Mage Chronicles- Part One Page 27