by Scott Baron
Ara had sensed a change in the magic after just the first few lead panels were hauled into place and secured.
“There has been a shift in power,” she noted. “It is slowing. Only slightly, for now, but I believe this is going to work.”
She and Bawb had been casting their layers upon layers of the counterspell the entire time, and even Charlie had learned it––albeit naturally, and without use of a neuro-stim. After what had happened to Rika’s mind at the hands of the Tslavars, he was reticent to have anything tamper with his own gray matter.
Fortunately, his blood tie to Ara had helped him home in on the correct feel of the spell. The intent behind it. Within two days, he was helping them cast, adding his own power to the mix. They worked at a relaxed pace, not to the point of exhausting their own power, but in a calm but continuous manner that would lead to a far greater spell potential than just a single casting.
It was much like the strength of a palm tree in a storm. Made of thousands of individual strands of grass-like fiber as opposed to the singular nature of a piece of wood. One would snap under a storm’s pressure, while the other would merely flex with the load. Their hope was that the layered spells would be equally robust.
And so it went, the trio casting as the AI members of their team worked tirelessly around the clock, as only machines could. At the end of three weeks, the Asbrú was entirely encased in its lead shell, and the hull of the Ra’az ship had been sealed, reinforced, and made space-ready.
They should have already passed the trigger date for the portal spell by that point, by Ara’s reckoning, but Charlie’s plan had been successful so far. The lead was thick, and it had done a far-greater job of blocking the Ootaki hair from soaking in the radiant power of the Earth’s sun than he’d expected. A pleasant surprise, and a much-needed win for his team.
The spell within the walls of the ship was still ramping up, however. But so far as Ara could sense, they still had at least a few days before it would reach critical mass.
“Well done,” she said. “This was a good plan, Charlie.”
“Indeed. Without it, the portal would have opened by now, and the invaders would have likely already succeeded in overthrowing this planet and claiming the system as their own,” Bawb added.
“Aww, shucks. Thanks, guys,” Charlie said. “But it ain’t over yet. Hell, the hardest part is still ahead. We’ve gotta get this thing out of the atmosphere, somehow. And that’s not going to be an easy trick.”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Charlie was once again in the comfortable familiarity of his space suit’s embrace, his most powerful konuses worn inside the material, resting directly against his skin. Strapped to the outside of his suit were the slaaps and konuses of a much larger man––big enough to fit over the suit’s arms and hands if need be.
Leila pulled him close, resting her forehead on his.
“Come back in one piece.”
“That’s my plan.”
“And we know how your plans sometimes go,” she joked, but the look in her eye was one of concern rather than cheerful mirth.
Charlie knew it was difficult for her to sit by and merely play passenger while the others did the heavy lifting. And equally frustrating was the knowledge that the Magus stone hanging around her neck was likely one of the most powerful ever recorded. At least Bawb and Ara thought so, given the way it had flared up, protecting her and her friends––though likely by mere proximity.
But she had no means to tap into its power. It was frustrating, having so much potential resting against her skin but being unable to use it.
“It saved your life, babe,” Charlie had told her. “Hell, it saved all of us.”
“But you can cast with your power. So can Bawb, with what he’s taken, I mean.”
“You can still use your konus.”
“I know, but it’s not the same.”
He knew she was right, of course. Ever since his internal power had begun to grow, his reliance on his konus had begun to diminish as the Zomoki blood in his veins continued to strengthen. To be reliant on only a konus at this point would leave him feeling somewhat helpless. And he imagined that was somewhat how Leila felt.
“Look, you may not be able to control it, but that stone is tied to you, and you alone. And we’d all be dead or worse without you. So be annoyed, sure, but also remember we all owe you our lives.”
A little smile tickled the corner of her lips, which she pressed to his warmly. “Thanks, Charlie. You’re the best.”
“You know it,” he said with a loving grin.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you ready?” Bawb asked as he strode up to his friends.
“Damn, Bob. Way to make the rest of us look like we’re hobos,” Charlie joked.
The Wampeh chuckled. He did look rather impressive, clad not only in his space suit––which also contained myriad magical devices on his person within––but also wrapped in a thick rope-like braid of Hunze’s magical hair. He’d kept it in full sun, charging to its greatest capacity possible in the weeks they had been preparing. And now it was time to use that power. Power which, like Leila’s Magus stone, was bound to him and him alone.
Unlike the hair of any other species, Ootaki hair stored massive amounts of magic within each strand. Additionally, their locks were exceptionally strong, able to withstand the harsh environs of space with ease where other materials might fall to pieces. And now it was going to be put to the test.
“Ara is ready to go when you are,” the Wampeh said. “And Ripley and Eddie insist on accompanying us, in case you hadn’t heard.”
“Oh yeah, we had a little chat about that,” he replied.
Leila chuckled. “I can imagine how that went.”
“Yeah. No way I was talking her out of it. And even Cal was okay with her coming along. He liked the idea of her and Eddie flying as a backup to the backup, just in case something should go wrong.”
The backup in this case was Rika, manually flying a ship she’d had fine-tuned to her preferences over the last couple of weeks. It had been years since she sat in a pilot’s seat, but she’d always been exceptional, and despite the damage and healing to her mind, that, at least, was one of the muscle-memory things that had remained intact.
She was also wearing a konus, as well as her powerful new slaap, and a space suit on top of that, just in case. She didn’t intend to lose cabin pressure, but she was also well aware that their mission was going to put all of their craft under a lot of strain. Losing pressure was simply too great a risk to ignore.
Her small ship had been docked atop the massive freighter that would carry their lead-ensconced payload into space. The controls of the Ra’az ship had been reworked to function via a hardlined link to the smaller one, riding atop like a remora on a shark. She could steer it on its way, then cut free when the time came.
Leila would be flying with her, ready to assist in whatever way she could if needed. But if all went according to plan, she and Rika would merely be there as a safety. A backstop, just in case. With a dragon leading the way, though, they were pretty confident their help wouldn’t be required.
Charlie and Bawb walked to their winged friend and climbed atop her towering back. Leila joined them for the quick hop over to the launch site, not needing a space suit for the low-level atmospheric flight.
When they touched down, they saw that Ripley and Eddie were standing by, ready and eager to take off. Rika, likewise, was set to go, her ship securely resting atop the massive craft waiting to be pushed into space.
“Comms check, one, two,” Charlie said into his earpiece.
“All comms are good on this end,” Cal said.
“And localized comms are good here too,” Eddie noted. “We’re ready when you are.”
Charlie took one more look at the massive ship, then donned his helmet. “Well, then. I guess let’s get this show on the road.”
Eddie gave Rika and Leila a quick lift to her waiting craft atop the freight
er, then took up his standby position a safe distance from the ship. In case they were required to use excessive magic to help nudge it into space, it was decided he and Ripley should stay well clear, just in case there was any blowback from the Ootaki-fueled device in the Asbrú’s hull.
“Lifting off,” Rika called out. She turned to the woman at her side and gave her a reassuring smile. “You ready for this?”
“As ready as any of us will be,” Leila said. “Just don’t crash us, okay?”
Rika let out a laugh. “Yeah, definitely not on my checklist today. Okay, hang on, here we go.”
She powered up the ship’s drive systems slowly, ensuring everything was functioning properly. Then she feathered the throttle, and with a low rumble, the craft slowly pulled from its terrestrial bonds, rising into the sky.
“Icarus is airborne,” she said over the comms.
“Copy that,” Charlie replied. “Reading you five-by-five.” It was just like old times, their old training coming back to them as if it were just yesterday they crewed a flight team together. “Looking good from here. How are the power readings from the main drive systems?”
“Green across the board,” she replied. “She’s a beast, but she flies all right.”
“Copy that,” Charlie said. “And Icarus?”
“I thought it was a fitting name. Why, you don’t like it?”
“No, it’s fine. Just, that story didn’t exactly have a happy ending.”
“Not all stories do,” she replied as the ship powered higher and higher into the sky. “Hang on. I’ve got a yellow light on the board. You seeing any smoke? I might have lost one of the stabilizing jets.”
“Ara, can you swing closer? She thinks something might be wrong with a stabilizer.”
“Of course,” the dragon replied, gently banking, bringing them much closer to the ship.
“Yeah, I see it,” Charlie said. “Looks like your number four flamed out. Nothing we can do about it now. How are the rest?”
“They seem to be okay, but this thing is getting sluggish as hell. There’s no way it’s going to make it without a nudge. You guys ready to give a girl a hand?”
“You good, Bob?”
“I am awaiting your word, Charlie.”
“How about you, Ara? You ready to give this massive boat a little push?”
“Whenever you say,” she replied.
“Okay, we’re all ready and standing by,” Charlie said. “Just say the word.”
“Well, then, word. Hurry up and do it now, before I start losing altitude.”
“Copy that. Bawb, you heard her. Start casting. I’ll tell Ara.”
The Wampeh began drawing from his Drookonus, utilizing the very specific type of magic stored in it to help power the enormous ship toward the atmospheric shell encompassing the Earth.
“It’s time, Ara.”
The mighty Zomoki began casting as well, her power providing further force to the energy driving the ship toward space. Charlie then tapped into his own power, providing the final boost to push Rika’s rumbling load to its zero-g goal.
“Almost there,” Rika said. “Keep it up just a minute longer.”
The magical trio continued their assistance, the massive ship’s hull vibrating as the edge of the atmosphere drew close. Then it abruptly stopped, easing into the silent smoothness of space.
“Clear. You can back down,” Rika called out.
“Copy that. Easing off,” Charlie said. The three casters ceased their magical assist. “Nice flying, Rika.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, that was pretty kickass,” Ripley chimed in. “From where we were watching, it looked like you might not clear the exosphere for a minute there.”
“I had to modify the trajectory slightly to compensate,” Rika replied.
“It was an impressive on-the-fly adaptation to an unexpected variable,” Eddie noted. “Very good flying, for a non-AI.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“No, that’s a compliment,” Rip said. “I mean, we couldn’t kill an AI flying the ship, but you did it almost as well as one of them could. That’s impressive, for reals.”
“Well, thanks, then.”
“And it’s even more impressive using a Ra’az ship. I mean, our stuff is pretty intuitive, but theirs is a different kind of tech altogether.”
“I noticed. But we got it to work.”
“Good thing, too. It would have really sucked to have to burn up one of our own ships. I mean, warp engines are hard to come by, you know.”
Charlie had been listening to the two banter, but that last bit caught his attention. “Hang on a minute. Did you say warp?”
“Oh, yeah. You know, using a warp drive system to power the ships,” Ripley said as if it were as normal as breathing.
“You have warp drives?” Rika said, joining Charlie in his astonishment. “You can warp?”
“Well, yeah. I thought you knew that.”
“No one ever mentioned that to me,” Rika said. “Charlie?”
“Nope. First I’ve heard of it.”
“My apologies,” Cal said. “It was simply not something I’d thought to bring up. As Ripley said, it is a well-known means of interstellar travel, though we are still somewhat limited in which craft possess the technology. I am sorry for not briefing you on it.”
“It’s okay, Cal,” Charlie said, still reeling at the news. “I suppose there’s a lot I still need to learn about this future of mine. And if we succeed in this, I look forward to picking your electronic brain for all kinds of things we just don’t know yet.”
“I would be glad to help in any way I can, of course.”
“Thanks, Cal, I appreciate it.”
“Hey, don’t forget about me,” Rika interjected. “I want in on this tech lesson too.”
Charlie chuckled. “Of course you do. But for now, we’ve got work to do.”
“Already on course,” Rika said. “Now it’s just a matter of time. And hoping we don’t burn, freeze, decompress, or blow up in the process.”
“Such an optimist,” Charlie said. “All right, then. Let’s do it. Let’s fly this thing into the sun.”
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Ara flew well ahead of the ship––fittingly deemed Icarus by its amused pilot––double-checking the way was free of debris, ensuring there were no unforeseen obstacles in their path.
All was clear, as anticipated, and as they drew close to the massive ball of burning plasma, the proximity of the sun’s rays affected Ara and the Ootaki hair worn over Bawb’s space suit even more than expected.
“This is amazing,” Ara said.
The feeling of her words, shared between her and Charlie alone with their silent, visceral link, was one colored with intense satisfaction. She was becoming supercharged with power. It was part of the plan, of course, but the sheer intensity of the magic surging though her body was so much more than she’d ever experienced. More than they’d ever expected to be possible.
Bawb, likewise, felt the massive surge in power build in the Ootaki hair wrapped around his space suit. Hunze’s gift was already of incredible potency, but this was something entirely new. Massive. Powerful. Nearly overwhelming. The power he now possessed dwarfed any he’d felt before.
“Charlie, can you feel this?” he asked.
Charlie did, though more through his link with Ara than its direct effect on the Zomoki blood flowing in his own veins. “Yeah, man. It’s incredible.”
The trio pushed ahead at a faster clip, flying closer and closer to the sun, leaving Rika and the massive freighter far in their wake. And as they did, the balance of power slowly began to tilt in their favor.
“Ara, can you feel the spell at this distance?”
“Yes. My senses are greatly heightened with this influx of energy,” she replied. “And so far as I can tell, the spell is gaining in power, but far slower than we are. The lead shielding is doing its job, it would seem.”
“So the dual layer o
f the ship around it on top of the lead we built is slowing the rays.”
“Yes. And I can feel the magic potential of Hunze’s hair increasing by the minute, just as my own powers are increasing.”
“And our spell? We have a few thousand smaller layers cast by now, but this is the lynchpin. If this casting fails, the whole thing does. Will we have enough?”
“It will be close, but I believe we just might succeed in overpowering their spell. So long as the shielding continues to block their Ootaki hair from buttressing their spell further.”
The plan was, so far, proceeding as they hoped. But Charlie was quite familiar with Murphy and his unexpected alterations to people’s best laid plans.
“I’m going to have to break away pretty soon, guys,” Rika said from her perch atop the massive freighter. “The shielding on this ship is going to start giving way soon. I’ll stick with it as long as I can, but I’m going to run out of tricks in just another minute or two.”
“Copy that,” Charlie replied. “It looks like we’re closing in on the tipping point. Ara and Bob are pretty much supercharged from all of this direct exposure.”
“And you? You’re human, Charlie. Even with Zomoki blood in you, you’re still susceptible to radiation. And heat, for that matter.”
“Believe me, I’m well aware. And trust me, I’ve been casting multiple protection spells since we pulled ahead of you guys. Bob too. We’re in a cozy little bubble here.”
“Good,” Leila said, coming on comms. “Come back to me in one piece, please.”
“Don’t worry, babe. I’d rather not roast to a crisp. And you know how Wampeh are about their complexions.”
Ripley crackled over the comms. “We can pick you up if you want. Eddie’s got some super top-end shielding. Just say the word.”
“No, we’re good, Rip. But thanks for the offer. We’re going to start casting any minute now, so stay a good ways back. And Rika, if you haven’t cut her loose yet, when I give the word, gun the engines one last time, then get out of there. And be sure to fly well clear of the ship. We don’t know how it’ll react.”