I looked at the ground and had myself a little involuntary giggle as my cheeks burned. I told myself I was the master of my own expressions though, and quickly looked back to Freyja with a slightly more serious expression, “So, how’s it work? I know you showed me, but I don’t really like messing with Warp-Tech that’s strapped to my chest.”
“Okay, grab the Caster, the little ball, from that thing on your chest.” she clarified, to which I grabbed the Caster and let it sit in my hand. It weighed a little more than a marble but at the same time like it could break just from me holding it too hard.
“Good, now, throw it, anywhere you’d like but preferably somewhere where you’ll only roll an ankle if you fall.”
I wasn’t fully convinced that that was the best of plans, but I trusted her and threw it as hard as I could into the forest, “Now what?”
“Push the button.”
“Like… this?” I asked as I looked around dizzily.
My head felt a bit jumbled and my stomach felt like it had just had every morsel sucked out of it with a hose. It took me a few seconds to get my bearings, but I eventually deduced that I was sitting on the ground far away from the fire.
“Kurla?” I heard Freyja call out from behind me, “Are you alright?” she asked as she reached me.
I looked up and was startled by the glowing red slit that looked down on me, “Yeah… yeah. I’m good.” I said after realising that it was just Freyja’s helmet.
She leant over and took my hand, helping me to my feet, “You sure?” she asked concernedly.
“Absolutely.” I said with glowing smile before pulling out the Caster again and whipping it in a fresh direction.
I slammed the button on my chest again, but landed on my feet and discovered that Freyja was right behind me, practically egging me to through it further and faster, which is exactly what I did.
We were having so much fun, and I was finally getting the hang of it especially when I had the innovative idea to stop binding myself to the ground and started using the Caster to get me high into the trees where I swung and threw to my heart’s content, regularly checking to see if Freyja was keeping up.
After a while though my body started to get sore and I found I was fighting for every breath. It was a hard decision to make, but I finally brought myself to stop in front of Freyja, hoping that she reflected my elated smile under her mask.
“One more?” I asked.
“Deal.”
She hadn’t even finished the word and I’d already thrown the Caster and was in position to push the button. My moment came and I pushed the button just in time to hear a rifle going off and suddenly I was in an engine room.
Electricity arced off of the massive version of the Caster a few meters beside me as it rotated and span at incredible speed. It was a warp drive, and I was far too close.
The construct certainly wasn’t Commonwealth, it was far too shiny. I don’t know why it took me so long, but it was only once I saw a maintenance engineer coming toward me, a Federation badge sewn onto his blue uniform’s shoulder pad, that I realised where I was.
A Feddie flagship.
Other Works by Zachariah Dracoulis
The Mulligan Planet : Books One & Two
Legends of Tarthirious : Books One & Two
DilDozer : Parts One & Two
Just A Taste: A Collection of Short Stories
Peaceful Protest
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Spectres (Æthyrium Rising - Spectres Book 1) Page 17