I jerked at that. “How -?” I stopped myself from continuing that thought.
“Alec is not nearly as bad as Betrayer is,” Aunt Sylvie said. “I think that Cassiana might be able to keep Alec from becoming worse than Betrayer.” She turned back to her herbs. In a softer voice, she admitted, “Love is a mysterious emotion, Rylynn. It wants what is good for the one you care about. If the tie is mutual, than it can heal and strengthen both parties.” Her moss green eyes turned sad. Taking a breath, she continued,, “Alec cares for Cassiana, in his way. Why else would he have saved her from the Maze or provide an escape from the cave in?”
“Perhaps you’re right, but I will still go to Cassiana’s aid if she calls,” I said, before leaving.
“Which is exactly what a good friend does. A loving friend does.” My aunt’s soft voice followed me out.
Chapter 33 – Welcome to the Tournament
Braeden Wingstar
LFP North Star
Kinair System
The day the Secret left for the colony moon of Vivort’ain, Braeden sat in the captain’s mess with Commander Blackmore and Captain Piqua Teel. Piqua was a willow wand of a woman from the Prime World Pyrosa. The Pyrosians could change their form, depending on where they were and wanted to be. On their homeworld, it wasn’t uncommon to see them as firedrakes or in their natural form that resembled living flames. Pyrosa was a lava world that had yet to cool down. Its volatile geothermic activity had long since decreed that if life wanted a foot hold, it need to like things hot. The Pyrosians did, and they often found it barely warm enough for their liking. At least in their natural forms. Centuries ago, when they first met humans, they started experimenting with other forms. Piqua was one of the few who liked to stay in one form for extended periods of time.
While she didn’t shift as the whim took her, her humanoid body did resemble the magma pool her family lived in. Her skin was a red so dark as to look black. Her long hair started out a brilliant yellow at her scalp before fading to orange and then red. The very tips were black. Her eyes were a bright orange-gold.
Piqua and Sam Blackmore had been friends for a long time. For years, Piqua served as the captain of the LFP North Star. For many, that position was like any other. Very few realized that the North Star served as the Shade Commander’s personal ship. It wasn’t advertised. Though the time for secrets had come to an end. Most of the crew were Shades themselves now.
“What is the situation on Kinair?” Sam asked, taking a sip of his coffee. When he wasn’t at home, the man preferred the stronger drink. No one made tea like his housekeeper.
“An underground stronghold of the Betrayer’s was uncovered. His descendants have been stealing the life energy of others for hundreds of years. Kinair’s authorities have been informed and given undeniable proof. They have already begun to move against the families responsible. I, we, have been asked to make sure things go smoothly.”
“Hmm, a clean-up job. And here I was hoping for something more entertaining,” Piqua muttered, leaning back in her chair.
“It’s a dangerous trip, I’m sure …” Sam began, before the North Star shuddered and the klaxons blared. “What the hell?” he said. The three shared a look before springing for the door.
“What is going on?” Piqua demanded, stepping onto the bridge.
“A Legion Fleet ship has just fired on us,” the helmsman replied.
“Movement ship?” Braeden inquired
“No, Sir. It’s the LFP Aurora. They are transmitting the Signal.” Braeden frowned. Had their enemies finally discovered their trick for knowing who was loyal to the Empire and who was a wolf in sheep’s clothing? If so, they had to correct the issue soon.
“Raise the shields and prepare to fire back,” Piqua ordered, as she sat in her chair.
“Ma’am! The Aurora’s engines and weapons have just gone offline! Their shields, too,” the North Star’s science officer reported before cursing. “Ma’am, most of the Aurora’s crews’ bio signs have just disappeared.”
“What?” Piqua said, spinning to stare incredulously at her science officer.
Before the flustered officer could say another word, the comm. beeped. “Ma’am, the Aurora is hailing us,” the comm. officer reported.
“On screen!” At her order, the screen went from a star-scape to the face of a woman in her forties. The woman’s eyes went from a strange black to gray as she blinked at them. She clung to the captain’s chair with what looked to be the only strength she had left. Braeden stepped forward on impulse.
“Help. Please,” the woman gasped. “I am Captain Clara Doven and I command this ship now,” she said with a slightly stronger voice.
“And when were you not?” Piqua demanded.
“Just now.”
“Explain!”
“Piqua …” Sam started to interrupt but the Pyrosian raised her hand. She wanted her answers and no one and nothing stood in the way of a Pyrosian wanting something.
Captain Doven took a deep breath and in an attempted strong voice began, “We were on the edge of Shadow Space in the Swava System when we were attacked by Movement ships. They destroyed our shields just as a swarm of Soul Shadows killed them. But instead of killing my non-bonded crew, they took us over.” She had to pause to take another breath. “They made us kill the Shades among us. We couldn’t stop them. All we could do was watch. That is why this ship was firing upon your vessel.”
“What changed?” Piqua asked.
“I – I don’t know,” Clara replied, sagging. “One moment I had no control. The next I did and my bridge crew is collapsed around me,” she said, looking at the floor in horror.
“Hold on, Captain. We will send you aid,” Braeden said, before gesturing for the communication to end.
“How is that possible? I thought Soul Shadows just killed,” Piqua muttered, her brow furrowed.
THEY ARE ABLE TO POSSESS, Raj, Braeden’s Spectral, answered. I NO LONGER SENSE ANY WRONGNESS FROM THE AURORA.
“So why is the crew in such bad shape?” she asked, after ordering a medical team to transport to the Aurora.
THE SHADOWS TOOK TOO MUCH FROM THEM. TOO MUCH SOUL, TOO MUCH ENERGY, Raj said, casting a worried glance at Braeden. I DO NOT KNOW IF THE CAPTAIN AND THOSE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE WILL REMAIN THAT WAY FOR LONG.
“My people will do what they can,” Piqua promised. “I just want to know where the Souls Shadows went.”
“Do you think they succeeded?” Samuel asked Braeden softly.
“That is the only explanation I can think of for Soul Shadows to suddenly disappear,” Braeden replied. And if it was true, a whole third of what had been the Spectral Empire was now much safer than it had just been. It was time to discover the amount of damage done and to keep it out of Zar’daken hands. “One step at a time …” Braeden whispered, peering out the view screen.
***
Rylynn
I went to bed after the Secret left Colony Vivort’ain. But my sleep was not as peaceful as I would have wanted.
I dreamed that I was sitting at a little card table with a drad’age board before me. I moved my pieces before smiling up at Caintallon, who sat across from me. A scowl darkened his face. It made my smile widen. Betrayer losing a game had been a sight both Kylesst and I had wanted to see. “I win this round,” I told him, sitting back in my chair. And man, wasn’t that true? His corner of the board was a mess. “The Soul Shadows are gone. And to put some salt in that wound, your home base is looking more like an overturned anthill than anything else,” I told Caintallon to make sure he knew just how much he had lost.
His lip curled up to reveal his clenched teeth as he glared at the board. Than he sat back with a stretch. When his dark eyes met mine again, he smiled. It sent a shiver down my spine. “Fine,” he said softly. “You won this round. But this …” he gestured vaguely at the board, “… this was just one game. And a minor one at that.” He leaned toward me, his forearms resting on the table. I watched him wearily. “You won
the game,” he repeated, “but we haven’t started the tournament yet. And I never lose a tournament.”
The End
Rylynn’s story continues in Book 4
Temple of War
Here is a sample:
Race
LFH Hail Mary
Zar’daken Empire
There it was. If he were a real pirate, this little merchantman might have gone over looked. A fourth the size of the Hail Mary, one couldn’t expect her to have much in the cargo hold. A small crew, a single cannon, this ‘little duck’ as Lieutenant-Commander Milo West happily called it, was probably the only ship in a opportunistic small shipping company hoping to make it big.
They just hadn’t quite made it and with only one cannon, Race wondered if they had thought that would protect them. Against actual pirates it might have worked. Unfortunately for them, they had crossed paths with the only Legion Fleet ship who dared Zar’daken space and just happened to need their junker.
“Duck is in the net.” Milo reported.
“Remind me again, why are we calling it ‘duck’?” Rael muttered with disgust.
“Because I like ducks? Especially ones I can shoot.” Milo replied.
Rael turned toward him “you are –“
“Off topic” Race cut in, sharing a look with his second.
Commander D’trace took his cue and added, “Have the probes activated?”
“Yes Commander.” Milo reported with a side glance at the comm. officer. The ‘I was getting to that’ was left unsaid. “The drills have started boring into the duck’s hull. The monitors will come online soon.” He continued. The monitors were an observation tech the Guardians had come up with to first learn Citizen Tech before the war. Now they hoped it would give them a way to remotely control the Zar’daken merchant ship. It would also give them access to, Race hoped, the Zar’daken database. Knowledge was what would see them through this and home again. “Started to collect data.” Milo reported after about thirty seconds.
Race sighed and turned forward again. It seemed his stupid plan might actually work… They would get the signal they needed to fool the crew into thinking that they should retreat to stasis pods or some part of the ship where they could all be locked in. Race really didn’t want any casualties, even if the innocents were Zar’daken. They weren’t soldiers on a warship.
WHAT IF THEY WERE SOLDIERS? Luna asked from her position near his chair.
Race grimaced. Another reason to have them all locked up somewhere. Especially if they are separated. He thought to her.
LUCKY FOR YOU, THEY ARE NOT SOLDIERS. Luna replied.
Now Race’s brows rose. Oh, and how do you know that?
I CHECKED THEM OUT ONCE YOU PICKED THEM AS A TARGET.
“And you are only telling me this now?” Race asked aloud. It was a good thing the rest of the crew had Spectrals too and understood immediately he wasn’t going crazy – or, rather, getting crazier. Not that Race cared at the moment. He was too busy glaring at Luna. “Do you already have the information we need?” he asked. It would have kept them from even the risk of being detected.
NO. WHILE WE CAN MESS WITH ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS IF WE TRY, WE CAN’T EXACTLY GET THE INFROMATION YOU NEEDED. BUT I DID CAUSE A SLIGHT SYSTEM FAILURE IN THE HULL SENSORS. OTHERWISE THE PROPES WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET INTO POSITION. She informed him with a hint of amusement.
“Thanks.” You still could have said something. He added silently.
I DID. Race narrowed his eyes at the cheeky Spectral.
He didn’t, though, get a chance to say anything else. Milo cursed. “I’m sorry, Sir, but I lost the transmission.”
“What happened?”
Milo shook his head. “Don’t know, Sir. But we only have a matter of time before they realize they were being spied on.”
“Do we have enough to jam her comm. system, at least? Internal would be even better.” D’trace asked.
“Both external and internal. No other systems, though.” Rael reported.
“Then do it.” Race said. He turned his attention back to Milo and D’trace. “Let’s give them a little show, shall we?”
***
Captain Metraeth reeled. One moment, his little merchant ship was cruising along just fine. Only difficulty had been in locating anything worth selling. But then, they were on the old rim of the Zar’daken Empire, so that wasn’t too surprising. They were a couple days out from entering the N’avé System. Though one of the poorer of the once powerful Spectral Empire, it still had goods that the Zar’daken people had yet to experience. Metraeth Enterprises were going to be one of the first to provide these experiences.
The next moment the computer reports having found and neutralized thirty foreign spyware components. He was just about to ask if it belonged to any of his brother’s companies when the comm. system went down. Completely. Besides by word of mouth, the ship had been struck both deaf and mute. Even worse, the computer system could no longer receive spoken input or give spoken information. Thankfully the manual access ports still functioned. So they had rudimentary control of the ship, but they couldn’t communicate with the rest of the crew from the bridge and they couldn’t talk to them.
Being the youngest of five, Metraeth was born suspicious of events that followed right after each other like this. It would just be like his brother Dreteth to do this sort of thing. Metraeth clicked in anger. His brother, none of his brothers, were going to steal this rich opportunity from him. He wouldn’t let them. They had enough success in their lives. Where they had gotten ahead start from their father’s company they had split between them, he had built up from nothing. They hadn’t wanted to get just a fifth of the company. Fourth was, apparently, bad enough for them. And as the elders, the law sided with them.
Metraeth would show them. Which had led to this risky venture in the first place. And now this –
“Captain!” his pilot squawked uncharacteristically yanking him from his plans for revenge. Metraeth didn’t need to ask why his pilot was in such a panic. The view screen was plain enough.
“Eternal WarKing…” He breathed, his leg chitin made shivering sounds as he tried to understand what he had done to deserve such luck. A ship four times the size of his little freighter blocked his view of the stars beyond. Hundreds of little ships buzzed around it in a threatening display. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a battleship. He had heard of such ships in the news. They were as formidable as the warships of his own Empire, which were not weaklings. And his ship had the ill fortune to come face to face with one. But maybe I’m wrong. He thought hopefully. Maybe it isn’t from the Spectral Empire, it can’t be. The authorities would have sent out warnings if there had been such a breach. This is something else. While still unnerving the thought relieved him.
“Captain, we are being hailed.” His second reported in surprise.
“I thought the communications system was completely down?”
His second shrugged his upper arms in confusion. “I still can’t send anything to the rest of the ship nor can I call for help. But I am getting a hail from our visitor. Shall I answer it?”
“Might as well. Keep trying to get the rest of the system up.” The other nodded as he worked at his manual port.
In a moment the scene before the ship was replaced to a well-lit bridge and a human officer in a dark blue uniform. Metraeth frowned at the malformed thing. Only two legs and two arms, how did it get anything done? A little patch of reddish-brown fur topped its oddly shaped head. The human was leaning back in its chair as though relaxing. “Sorry for the scare. Allow me to introduce myself,” the human said with a smile “I am Captain Race Quinn of the Spectralian warship, LFH Hail Mary. And I have need of your ship.”
Metraeth sputtered. The audacity of the creature! “And what makes you think you can just take it?!” he demanded with angry hisses.
The human raised a brow over its ugly eye “an old concept ‘might makes right’. You can decide now whether
or not you want to do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“You cannot have my ship!”
“Can’t I?” The human asked leaning forward slightly in its chair. “Captain, I don’t think you understand how out gunned you are.” The human held his Metraeth’s gaze calmly, his tone one Metraeth’s brothers had used from time to time when they pointed out the situation he was in. It rankled listening to this lesser creature use the same tone as it continued, “You are alone on the edge of your people’s traditional control. Your ship is not exactly in the best repair, your total crew a fraction of a single shift’s personal on my ship. Your comm. system is down, so there will be no help. And you have, what, one cannon?” The human paused and considered him with what even Metraeth could tell was amusement. “Do you honestly think you can stop me?” the human asked.
Other books by Catherine Beery
Defender of the Empire
Book 1: Cadet – 2014
Book 2: Facades 2014
The Ways of Mages
(with Andrew Beery)
The Ways of Mages, #1 – Revised July 2012
The Ways of Mages: Two Worlds, #2 – Aug 2012
The Ways of Mages: Starfire, #3 January 2013
The Ways of Mages: Three Swords, #4 – 2013
Books by Andrew Beery
The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles
Inception, #1 – July 2012
Redemption, #2 – January 2013
Exploration, #3 – 2013
Retribution, #4 – 2014
Liberation, #5 – 2014
New Worlds, #6 – 2015*
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 I thought you knew…
Chapter 2 – Ancient Memories
Chapter 3 – A Change in Command
Chapter 4 – The Search for Other Games
Chapter 5 – Of Shades and Guardians
Chapter 6 – Nightmares
Defender of the Empire: Chaos Page 27