“So,” she said as she towel-dried her hair, “why are you here?”
I swallowed and pushed aside my embarrassment. “Have you found anything more concerning the door inside the armory? I’ve been past it a couple times, but there’s nothing suspicious about it. The dismantler is inside, and the equipment I sorted is sitting beside it. I haven’t seen anyone go inside the door, but I can’t exactly wait outside the entrance because of Olav’s threat.”
“Sounds like you wasted your time,” Elle said. “Luckily, I have found something of interest.”
She sat in front of the desk and turned on the computer. The holo monitor initialized and the point clerk tapped the side of her skull. The black mist of the Medusa-link seeped from every pore on her face and then entered the system like spectral fingers.
Binary code flashed across her eyes as a ship’s schematics appeared on the monitor. The text on the bottom right was a list of the Stalwart’s specifications, and a revolving holo diagram of the starship extended from the screen.
“As you can see, this image doesn’t reflect the Stalwart’s current composition,” Elle said. Her voice sounded oddly trance-like, and I guessed it was caused by the Medusa-link. “This was the original state of the Stalwart before it underwent modifications. The Caledonian Kingdom’s database has updated records, but they are also limited. The Stalwart has been modified with parts of vessels from various ship classes.”
“None of this is new,” I said.
“Let me finish,” Elle said with a wide-mouthed grin. The effect was haunting with her bleached-white eyes and the black tendrils floating from her head to the computer system. “I matched the parts with their original ships. Every one of the vessels was reported missing at some time in the last two centuries.”
“And somehow they were found and jigged to the Stalwart?”
“Exactly,” the point clerk said.
“Did anyone report that the missing ships had been found?”
“Not once.”
“Was Captain Cross involved?” I asked.
“Of course,” she replied. “I believe his entire inner circle knows about it. At least, that’s what the reports show.”
The monitor turned off, and Elle’s Medusa-link returned to her skull.
None of this made any sense to me. I was meant to be looking for insurrection on the ship, but this didn’t point toward rebellion. I didn’t know what Elle’s discovery indicated. How did the Stalwart come to be made of all of these lost ships? How did Captain Cross do it? And maybe the most important question was: How did the Stalwart get entered into the RTF’s database and become active for duty?
“I haven’t been able to find the origin of the Stalwart either,” Elle continued. “There’s a history of it as a humanitarian vessel, and the recorded missions are mundane. There’s one problem, though. The missions’ commissioning officers either don’t exist or were dead years before they provided Captain Cross with orders.”
“This is weird,” I said.
“You’re telling me.”
“What does this have to do with the armory?”
Elle shrugged.
I wanted to tell the point clerk about my mission to the queen, but I couldn’t, at least, not yet.
“All participants in the Tachion mission are to report to the deployment room at 10:00,” Commander Reynolds barked from the intercom.
“I gotta go,” I said to Elle. With only ten minutes to get myself equipped for the mission and arrive at the deployment room, I was running short on time. “Any chance you can try and make sense of this while I’m on the mission?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Please don’t get caught,” I cautioned her.
“I won’t. You be careful on Tachion. I know it’s a humanitarian mission, but things aren’t always as they seem. You might have to use the hammer I sold you.”
“Ha, wouldn’t that be great?”
“No,” she said. “It wouldn’t. Stay safe, Nicholas.”
I gave Elle a wink and left for my quarters.
I put on and equipped my Runetech armor. Then I slipped the comms device into my belt’s pouch. Together with Neville, Richard, and Nathan, I walked to the deployment room on Deck 3.
It was the first time I’d been on the third deck since the pirate attack. Passing the second gunnery room brought back the gunfight where the artillerymen had died. I tried not to think too much about the fallen crew members as I entered the deployment room and stood beside the three other squires.
A large meeting table with a holographic computer system sat in the middle of the rectangular-shaped chamber. The spinning holo showed a map of Salenum with two blue markers representing the deployment zones. An alcove extended from the back of the room where a portal was initializing.
The knights Olav, Moses, Flanagan, and Leith stood around the edges of the alcove in full plate armor. Two crew members I hadn’t met yet were sitting behind a console to the right. I recognized them for jump mages because of their purple robes. I hadn’t seen them drinking in the galley or elsewhere on the ship in the last five days, but then mages tended to be a little aloof and antisocial because of the vast amounts of study required to advance through their ranks.
My belt pouch vibrated, and my heart leaped into my mouth. Polgar was calling me.
I turned to Neville and the squire twins. “I forgot something in my quarters.”
Nathan smiled at me. “I’ll cover for you.”
“Thanks,” I said as I zipped out of the room.
I found a storage cupboard between the second gunnery and the deployment room. I breathed a sigh of relief when my palm rune opened the lock. When I closed the door behind me, I grabbed the comms device from my pouch and answered the call.
“You kept me waiting, Outlander,” Polgar’s nasally voice buzzed as his video feed initialized.
“Sorry, your eminence.” My anger made the apology little more than a whisper. What the hell was the sorcerer doing calling me outside of the allotted time? It was risky, to say the least.
“I needed to ensure you knew what was at stake in the Tachion mission.”
“I’m aware,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Let me remind you. Should you fail to follow Olav Kjeldsen today, I will ensure you are removed from the RTF.”
“I understand, your eminence.”
“In case you require further enlightening, I also have word you are supporting a certain family member living in the Dobuni tenements.”
My mouth went dry. “You wouldn’t hurt my mother.”
“I am no monster,” Polgar said in mock horror. “But I know she would be unable to pay her taxes without your assistance. I can make it so you cannot find employment anywhere within the Caledonian Kingdom.”
I couldn’t believe the sorcerer’s threats. I agreed to this mission because I wanted to serve my Queen against insurrection, not so I could be ordered around by a man who abused his power.
“I will do my best, your eminence,” I said.
“Good. If you were truly devoted to our beloved Queen, then you would do anything in your power to prevent the insurrectionists from achieving their ends. Time is of the essence, Outlander. The Stalwart’s crew is up to something on Tachion, and I need to know exactly what it is. Olav Kjeldsen is at the center of it. My ship will enter the Augusti Vetera System in two days to arrest the Stalwart’s crew. You will find evidence by then.”
Polgar didn’t specify whether he would be arresting only the Stalwart’s knights or the entire crew. I had befriended Casey, Zac, the squire twins Nathan and Richard, and the shield knight, Moses, so I didn’t want to see guilt ascribed to them.
“Your eminence, I don’t believe the entire crew are--”
The comms device went silent.
I felt like crushing it in my gauntleted hand. I wanted to serve my Queen and my kingdom, but this seemed impossible. How was I meant to find sufficient evidence in only two days?
Through sheer force of will.
I couldn’t let Olav out of my sight for the entire duration of the Tachion mission. If he or any of the other crew members were insurrectionists, then I was going to find evidence while planetside.
I returned to the deployment room and approached the crew members gathered around the alcove. The glowing portal was almost finished initializing, and it bathed the Space Knights and jump mages in an indigo light.
“Hey, Nick,” Moses greeted me as he activated his prot-field. “Haven’t seen you around much lately. You been doing alright?”
“Yeah, I’ve been good,” I said. Moses was still as kind to me as usual, so I guessed he still didn’t know about me and Elle digging around for information. Maybe he was innocent of insurrection? Polgar suspected Olav, and the berserker had been the only one to confront Elle and me.
“You have about an hour before you squires leave for Tachion’s capital, Salenum.”
“An hour? I thought we were leaving now.” I glanced at the open portal in the transportation alcove.
“That portal is for us knights. We have some things to handle beforehand. We’ll see you when the day’s over.” Moses smiled kindly at me.
My mind raced to think of some way to accompany the knights. Following Olav would be almost impossible if I didn’t jump with them to the planet.
“I’d like to come with you, sir,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about the specialist role I want to take, and I’d love to see a shield knight in action.”
Moses smiled proudly, and I felt a little guilty for bending the truth. “I doubt there’ll be any action to see. Besides, we need all the squires to assist with the humanitarian efforts. The containers should arrive within the next few hours, and there are lots of supplies to assign to the relevant Tachionese officials. Didn’t you read the objectives?”
I’d forgotten all about the mission objectives because I’d been so busy investigating the Stalwart’s mysteries, drinking and playing poker with the other squires, and reporting to Polgar.
“Have a read through them now,” the shield knight said with a knowing glance.
“Sorry, sir. I should have--”
Moses raised a hand. “Don’t apologize. I know all about how difficult a first assignment is. Getting accustomed to a ship and her crew ain’t easy. I was fresh on the Stalwart once.”
“Were you assigned to the Stalwart recently?”
The shield knight nodded. “Three years back. I was in some trouble, and Captain Cross got me out of it. I stayed on the Stalwart under his command to work off my debt.”
I smiled, unable to contain my relief. Moses was a recent addition to the starship, and I figured this might also mean he wasn’t embroiled in insurrectionist activity like the rest of the crew.
“Time to jump. Ronan doesn’t like tardiness.” Moses smirked and indicated the older jump mage. “Good luck today, Nick.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“We’ve only got authorization for two portals to enter the planet’s atmosphere and another two to get out,” Ronan said to the knights. “Foreign Runetech is forbidden by the Salenum Elders while in the city, so your comms via your prot-belt are disabled.”
“No un-enchanted replacements?” Flanagan asked the mage.
“They were destroyed during the pirate attack,” he replied.
“Then we won’t have to listen to Flanagan’s terrible ballads,” Olav said.
“I don’t need the comms to serenade you, friend Olav.” The herald began a ditty but was quickly silenced with a glare from the jump mage.
“Jump Mage Patrick will remain with the squires to prepare a second portal,” Ronan said. “Squire Lyons, as soon as you arrive at the palace, I want you to contact the artillerymen aboard the transport ships. Once they have the okay from you guys, they’ll bring the cargo.”
“Yes, sir,” I said to the jump mage.
Ronan nodded at me before leaping through the portal in a flash of light. The four knights followed, the air sparking with each jump. I was fully-equipped, ready for deployment, and the portal was still open.
If I didn’t make a move now, I would lose Olav. I had orders from Polgar, and failing to carry them out would mean trouble for Mom. The Dobuni tenements were bad, but its streets were far, far worse. The image of Queen Catrina flashed before my mind’s eye, and the vow I’d made to serve her in life and death echoed in my ears.
If I could stop an insurrectionist scheme by leaping through that portal, then my service to the Queen required it.
Without another thought, I sprinted for the shimmering light.
“What are you doing?” Richard yelled.
Nathan reached for me, but his hands failed to get a grip on my armor as I jumped through the portal.
I was thrown planetside, and my body screamed with agony from the sudden transportation. I couldn’t hold in my stomach and vomited on the cream-colored stone bricks. When I straightened, I expected to see the Space Knights having watched me eject my breakfast. Thankfully they were already twenty meters down the street and completely unaware I’d hijacked their deployment portal.
I was feeling less certain now that I’d committed insubordination and my feet were on the solid bricks of Salenum’s city. I didn’t know for certain Olav and the other knights were rebels. I was serving the Queen by spying on the Stalwart’s crew, but all I had to go on were the theories of High Sorcerer Silvester Polgar and Duke Barnes. For all I knew, they could be wrong.
Then why was there a door sealed with runes inside the armory? And why had Olav threatened to throw Elle and me out of the airlock for looking into it?
Not to mention the mystery of Brigantes and the Master class gauntlets Casey was repairing.
Knowing this was my last shot at gathering information, I pursued the knights. White-robed men and women filled the streets, and I kept a few of them between the Stalwart’s knights and me so I wouldn’t be seen.
From the statues of a many-winged goddess overlooking the towering marble structures on either side of the street, I gathered Salenum was a deeply religious city. I knew so little about the place because I hadn’t read the briefing, so I would avoid drawing attention to myself.
The robed people glanced at me now and then, but they seemed more focused on marching through the city. After a while, I noticed their steps were measured, as though they were undergoing a religious procession.
When I reached the end of the street, I stopped in my tracks. Hanging from an archway was a female figure wearing a costume with three sets of wings, making her look like the statues of the winged woman I’d seen.
Except this winged woman was very much alive, and she seemed to be in great pain. Massive metal spikes pinned her to the archway. Blood trailed down her body and dripped onto the robed men and women as they ascended the steps beneath the arch. Each robed person bowed their heads to the tortured imitation of their goddess.
I couldn’t help but stare at the grotesque sight. Then I realized I’d lost track of Olav and the other knights. My heart pounded as I searched for the men in plate armor among the white-robed masses.
I pushed through the crowd to every corner of the plaza and still couldn’t find them. Polgar’s words echoed in my mind, and the terror of his threats gripped my heart like an icy hand.
“A Caledonian knight,” a voice said from behind me.
I turned to see a Space Knight clad in power armor step out from a dome-roofed building. His burgundy-colored tabard didn’t bear the sigil of a specialist role, but I figured he was probably a shield knight from his sheer size. He would have been at least a head taller than Moses and equally as wide.
The color of his tabard and his refined accent told me he was Aquitanian.
Although I hadn’t read the mission details, I remembered the captain’s words in the galley. We were meant to steer clear of knights from the other Triumvirate Kingdoms. Under no circumstances were we to involve ourselves in the conflict between the kin
gdoms of Aquitaine and Rutheni.
“No,” the knight said as he approached me. “You’re not a knight. You’re a squire, aren’t you? But you’re definitely Caledonian.”
I didn’t respond because my attention was focused on the building he’d just exited. The glazed windows were opened slightly, and I could see more Aquitanian knights through the narrow slit.
Technically Aquitaine and Caledonia were at peace because of the Amnesty, but his presence still indicated danger. I wasn’t in contact with the other squires, and the Stalwart’s knights wouldn’t know I’d come through the portal after them because they weren’t able to communicate with the ship.
“I admit my Caledonian is a little rough, but you must understand what I’m saying,” he said.
“I don’t want any trouble.” I almost went to grab my hammer’s hilt but thought otherwise. Any display of aggression would probably send the building full of knights charging outside to carve me into pieces.
I needed to get out of this peacefully and continue tailing the Stalwart’s knights.
The Aquitanian knight gave me a placating smile. “What makes you think there would be trouble? I only want to converse with you. We don’t often see Caledonians on Tachion, not to mention fresh squires like yourself. What ship did you arrive from?”
Even though the man’s expression was friendly, I felt like I was being interrogated under the threat of violence.
“On an RTF vessel.” I kept my answer brief, not wanting to say anything that might get me into further trouble.
“The RTF Stalwart?” the knight pressed.
“Yes,” I said. The knight obviously possessed knowledge about my assigned ship so I couldn’t risk telling him a lie. “Then you know we’re here to provide humanitarian aid to the natives. I have a job to do, so if you’ll excuse me.”
I turned to leave, but the knight’s gauntleted left hand wrapped around my bicep and pulled me back.
“That’s what Salenum’s king has said, but I don’t believe it,” he growled. “The Stalwart has other plans. I’m sure of it. I have information to suggest Captain Cross has sent his knights on a mission which would break the Amnesty.”
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