At Jil’s incredulous look, Paress said, “I know it sounds kinda lame, but it’s been kinda fun.”
“Yeah,” Casten continued. “So when this whole thing tonight happened, I remembered the movies where there’s a student who falls in love with a professor. And half the time the professor’s already married or something, or he gets the girl pregnant or something.”
Jil laughed. “Heh, well, in my line of work, you can bet I make use of the galaxy’s best birth control— I’m not having anybody’s kid! And as for being in love with the Doctor, nah, he’s not my type. It’s not that he’s married. I just like my guys a little more rough and tumble, you know?”
Paress thought about the blackmailing vid with the Orks and thought to himself that yes, that was certainly getting rough around the edges. He gave a small nod of understanding, not wanting to make Jil suspicious of just how much he did know.
“Why do you and Doctor…Missus…Behlen talk so badly about each other?” Casten asked.
“Hello!” Jil said. “Dwarf. Half-elf. We always talk shit about each other. What else is new?”
“You even get that way about half-elves?” Paress asked.
“Come on, when you first saw her, you totally thought she was a high elf, didn’t you? She certainly carries herself like one.”
Paress wondered if Jil would feel the same way if she’d seen what Paress had seen outside the dorm when Leah cried so heartily and well, humanly. Instead he only said, “Yeah, I guess so. She talks smack against you too.”
“Of course she did, because elves are stuck-up bitches no matter how much they dilute the bloodline. Hell, the half-elves can sometimes be more obnoxious than the full blooded ones because they have more of a complex to prove themselves just as good as the real deal. They’ll always keep a part of that self-righteous imperious bullshit to lord it over everybody else— especially towards dwarves. It’s just a fact of life.”
After some moments of silence, Jil said, “Okay, I’m gonna get going. You two are obviously okay, so I feel pretty good about leaving. And hey, the word on the street is that you guys started hanging out with the older kids.”
Paress brightened. “Yeah! We all went to Neon Tron’s. Had some food, did a bunch of singing.”
Jil smiled warmly. “Good. It’s great that you’ve started making friends with other cadets. The Doctor and I can’t be everything— nor should we. After all, some day you might need some back up on a mission where more Space Knights are needed. Space Knights will always support each other, but even so, it’s always good to know that you have friends out there.”
“Besides,” she said with a wink, “the stuff you do with friends— including, but not limited to, parties— helps the time go by and before you know it, it’s four years later and you’re about to graduate. The time really flies. I also expect you too will have had plenty of girlfriends by then, so don’t disappoint me.”
“You really think so?” Paress asked. “The girlfriends, I mean.”
Jil laughed. “Once again, it comes down to that. Yes, I think you’ll be alright in that department. I mean, you already have a Hyper Battle Machine. Plenty of girls love successful guys, you know. That’s only gonna grow more as you get older.”
“I sure hope so,” Casten said. “…even though we’re trying not to focus on girls so much.”
“Well, that’s the best plan of action really,” Jil said. “The less you try to get a girl, the better the chance you actually get one. Nothing will drive a college girl crazy more than a successful, self-assured guy, who doesn’t actually need a girlfriend and is perfectly happy on his own. If you guys can project that, you’ll be beating the girls away.”
Paress considered. “Well, like Casten said, we are gonna focus more on being the best team there is anyway… So we get the added bonus of girls along the way…?”
“Trust me,” Jil said with a grin, “I’m a professional.”
“Alright, sounds good then,” Paress said.
“Good,” Jil said. “Now I’ve gotta go. So…are we cool then?”
“Yeah, we’re cool,” Paress said.
“I’m glad. I’m sorry things got tense. I want you guys to be happy and so does the Doctor.” She got up and gave Casten a big hug and then Paress, grinding slightly against him in a way that Casten couldn’t see. “When you’re an adult,” she whispered lustily in his ear, “I’m all yours.”
She pulled away and gave him a secretive smile. “Goodnight guys,” and then slipped out the door.
Paress was stunned— not by Jil’s behavior and her secret promise— but by the fact that what she did and said didn’t surprise him.
“So, that whole thing was pretty crazy, huh?” Casten said. “And hey, always nice to get a sexy girl to give us a hug.”
“It’s all part of the plan,” Paress said. “We have to be careful.”
“Huh?”
“She just gave me a little bit of a grind and whispered that she was mine when I’m old enough.”
“What?” Casten cried. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. But I don’t think she is. I think she’s just telling me what she thinks I wanna hear to keep me happy.”
“I don’t know…”
“Where was the Doctor?” Paress demanded. “We know his wife showing up was pretty important. She even managed to know how long it would be before somebody came to stop her. But why wasn’t it the Doctor himself? Instead we got Jil. She kept talking about how the Doctor wants—— this and the Doctor wants that… Well, why didn’t he come himself?”
“Maybe he’s too busy?”
“Come on. Something this important— his wife actually showing up to talk to us and putting their peace pact that we both overheard into jeopardy— and he’s too busy? Nah, he’s in full control of the situation. And we’re both such a couple of obvious horny kids that he knows the fastest way to our hearts and minds is through our…things. So he sends his girl over to get the job done.”
“You mean like with the Commandant?” Casten asked, his expression starting to change.
“Yep. He’s probably got a few different people working for him that he uses depending on what the um…’target’, I guess…wants. We’ve been really obvious talking about girls. So from the very start, he sends a hot Painted Lady to come get us. Mriniw kinda screwed that up at first, but Jil knew how to play me right after.”
“Huh, that does make sense,” Casten said slowly. “Like, she even just said she likes rough and tumble guys. The whole thing with the orks proves that, I think. So why say that and then turn around and tell you what she did? You’re not a rough guy.”
“Nope,” Paress agreed. “But I think she got caught up in the moment. She was telling us about how we’re gonna have all these girlfriends and everything and she sees us eating that stuff up. So what does she do? She decides to seal the deal with telling me I can have her when I’m old enough.” He laughed. “I wonder if she would actually keep that promise. How deep is she in? Or did she just tell me that and figure things will be different years later?”
“That’s a pretty good question,” Casten said. “But you know, I feel like a lot of the stuff she said was for real. Her thing about ignoring girls being a good way to actually end up getting girls…I’ve heard that before.”
“Oh I think that’s true too,” Paress said. “But isn’t there some kind of saying about how the best lies have enough truth in them or something? I mean, I think Jil and the Doctor really do care for us. I don’t think it’s just them being uh…?” Paress searched for a word.
“Manipulative,” Casten said.
“Manipulative. Yes. Exactly,” Paress said. “I don’t think they’re totally manipulative. Like, I don’t think this is the same as them with the Commandant. I was thinking about it after Mrs. Behlen left and Jil was here.
“I think both of the Behlens are really trying to do good things overall and are trying to take care of us. They’re just doing whatever they thi
nk is right to make it happen. The Doctor has done good things for us. But I think maybe he’s sweetening things for us even more to keep us happy. There’s nothing really wrong with that…it’s just that we have to be extra careful about what’s real and what’s fake.”
“But how do you know they’re both trying to do good?” Casten asked.
“I don’t know,” Paress said. “I just have a deep feeling about it. A hunch. I mean, they both work for the Space Knight Academy. They work for a place that makes people and Machines that defends the Empire, so that’s not bad. And maybe they want different things for me, but they still both want me here and to become a Space Knight. So I think maybe they want the same finish, but they’re going in different directions to get there.”
“So, we’re okay with staying with the Doctor, then?” Casten asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Paress said. “As long as we stay focused and remember that if something’s too good to be true, it probably is, we should be okay.”
“Hey what about that thing Mrs. Behlen said about Allepexxis’ true purpose— to destroy other Hyper Battle Machines. What’s that all about?” Casten asked.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Paress said. “It’s kinda weird, but maybe the original idea was that Allepexxis was gonna be like, some kind of Hyper Battle Machine cop or something to keep the others in line?”
“She made it sound like it was a really bad thing though,” Casten said.
“Yeah. But you know, it doesn’t have to be bad. We just won’t kill other Hyper battle Machines. Easy as that, I guess…” Paress knew what he said wasn’t very convincing, even though what he said made sense.
“You know I just realized something,” Casten said, moving on from the subject. “Jil said our room wasn’t bugged. But what if she only said that to make us feel better, and the Doctor’s been listening to us the whole time?”
“Good point,” Paress said. “Can you detect anything?”
“Well, no, but don’t you think he’d make sure to bug it with something I can’t detect?”
“Hmm, yeah, that’s also a good point.” Paress exhaled. “But y’know, I think maybe Jil was telling the truth. I think he trusts us and maybe respects us enough to give us our own private space to blow off steam or whatever. I think it’s safe here.”
Paress raised his voice slightly. “And if it’s not, and you’re listening, Doctor, don’t worry. We’re still your guys and won’t start any trouble. You want us to be on a team with Allepexxis and we do too, and we all want to protect the Empire, so I think we’re all okay.”
He turned to Casten. “I guess we’ll see.”
Casten shrugged. “Or not.”
“Or not,” Paress repeated. He stretched and then squared his shoulders. “Alright, let’s make this happen.”
Part III
Chapter One
Francescan Star Calendar Year 518.09
Location: Planet Latmus, 101st Frontier, 40th Periphery Space
“Hey man, are you with me?” Casten banged Paress' shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m with you,” Paress said with irritation. “Damn…”
“Okay, good, because you were looking a little more slack-jawed and empty than usual.”
“Can ya turn down the ‘Jackass’ setting for two seconds of your life?” Paress asked.
“Nah, it’s hardwired.” Casten grinned.
“I was just thinking about Leah Behlen.”
Casten’s grin faded. “Leah Behlen? Really? Why?”
“I dunno. Just remembering how she said we’d probably never see her again. It’s been over ten years and, well, we haven’t.”
“Yeah. Hang on…” Casten tapped something on his data pad.
“What’re you doing?”
“Seeing if she’s still alive.”
“Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Who knows?” Casten looked on the screen. “Okay, according to the Academy’s official staff list, she’s still there in Technology Integration, whatever that is. Is that what she was doing when she visited us that time?”
“I’m not sure…” Paress leaned over to look at Casten’s screen. “Wow, look at her. Like she hasn’t aged.”
“Well, when you’re an adult, ten years isn’t much depending on when those ten years happen…” Casten reasoned. “Compared to how much we’ve changed, for example.”
“Heh, says the guy who gets an entire new body every few years,” Paress said. “No, I mean look at her, she looks exactly the same.”
“You’re right. It’s probably the elven blood.”
“Yeah.” Paress sighed. “I wish I could talk to her.”
“Why?”
“Once again, I’m not really sure,” Paress admitted. “Here and there I think about how she said there’d be some tough times and hard decisions and to do the right thing. I guess I’m just wondering when all that’s supposed to go down. It’s been in the back of my mind almost daily ever since.”
“I know. But do you want something bad to go down? Is this life of hunting Space Pirates boring? Do you need a challenge?”
“No, no… I don’t know what I’m thinking. It’s just…there, okay?”
“Alright. I hear ya…”
Over ten years had passed since that day when Paress Handrel first learned the basics of piloting Hyper Battle Machine #25 Allepexxis. The day still stood out to Paress as one of the most important in his life because of the various revelations and events that occurred. Different aspects of it still popped into his mind, causing unwanted distraction.
Since graduating from the Imperial Space Knight Academy and receiving his Knighthood six years ago, Paress had been assigned to the Frontier Anti-Piracy Force, or, as they were sometimes colloquially known, The Deep Space Hussars. This was thanks to their uniforms having knee-length jackets with double-breasted panels on the front. Space Knights often customized their uniforms to their personal tastes, as was their Imperial privilege. But Paress liked his uniform and thought it looked cool with his forage cap worn at a jaunty angle.
He and Casten had just arrived at their new assignment, the planet Latmus, having finished clearing the Grinlap Zone of weapons smugglers. Located at the 40th Periphery, Latmus was a sort of staging ground into the 101st Frontier, a section of space known for harboring The Midnight Group, a particularly bloodthirsty group of space pirates that ran a large slavery ring.
They were supposed to meet the Space Knight currently assigned to the area and go on an orientation mission with him to get a feel for the job before he took his Hyper Battle Machine back to the Academy for a much-needed overhaul. Paress and Casten would stay at this place and the other Space Knight would go on to a different assignment. Until the meeting, they decided to have some drinks in a rough little pub that Casten insisted they had to visit so they could witness the “Local Color”.
“The thing that gets me about this bunch of pirates we’re after, the Midnight Guys…” Casten began.
“Group,” Paress said. “Midnight Group.”
“Whatever. But I still can’t believe they’ve figured out a way to use Space Monsters in their forces. Space Monsters!”
“Well, not all Space Monsters are created equal,” Paress said. “Some are intelligent and maybe that’s what’s going on here. The pirates and monsters have worked out some kind of deal…”
“Now that would be interesting,” Casten said.
“Guess we’ll find out.” Paress took a sip of his drink, an oddly good brandy considering the ramshackle quality of the pub. The rest of the pub’s patrons kept their heads down and only stole furtive glances at the Space Knight and Companion. Paress guessed over half of them were affiliated with the pirates, if not actual pirates themselves.
“I hear there’s a new Imperial in here!” someone suddenly shouted as they came in the door. “I figured I’d come take a look.”
Paress grinned at Casten. “Is this really happening?”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
<
br /> “Over here!” Paress said as he turned to face the source of the voice. A particularly large and ugly troll wearing thick hides stood in the doorway, flanked by some underlings. “We’re the Imperials. So go ahead and say whatever it is you feel the need to say.”
The troll seemed shocked to be addressed so quickly and with such a casual air. He stomped up to the bar. “Alright, listen, I’m the boss of this planet. I keep things running smooth while you guys do your thing with the pirates. You guys stay outta my way and I stay outta yours.”
“Is this the deal you have with the current Space Knight?” Paress asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well okay then. I’m here to kill pirates, not get into tussles with local meatheads. I’ll talk to my predecessor and if everything checks out, it’ll be business as usual.”
The troll, clearly expecting some kind of argument raised his gigantic eyebrows. “Really? Oh, well then, good.”
“In fact, we’re gonna go meet up with him now, Mister…?” Paress stood suddenly and the troll and his contingent took a small step back.
“Uh, Oghul… sir.”
“Mister Oghul. Excellent.” Paress patted the troll’s arm. “But I have to warn you that if the other Space Knight doesn’t confirm what you say, things’re gonna get a little rough.” Paress didn’t wait for a response and walked through Oghul’s men, using his telekinesis to shunt them out of his way.
“A magicker… or an ESPer,” someone in the group muttered.
“We’ll let y’all figure out which on your own,” Casten said cheerily as he followed Paress out.
When they got outside, they both started laughing. “That guy came in expecting some kind of major bar fight or something where everybody ‘gets the measure’ of each other or some bullshit,” Casten said.
“You attract more flies with honey than vinegar,” Paress said.
“Well, you certainly attracted one really big nasty horsefly just now,” Casten said.
“I aim to please.”
They walked along the dusty street. Lots of ancient, barely running vehicles shared the road with various pack animals and carriages. The buildings had all seen better days… and apparently those days were at least a hundred years ago. Spots of faded paint here and there gave clues that at one point the town was quite colorful.
Space Dragon Allepexxis Page 33