“Oh, very good,” she responded and sounded as impressed as she felt. She looked at the empty bays where the engine array would stand. “These engines you have coming… They’ll be able to shift the ship between dimensions, too?”
Hargreaves nodded. “Oh, yes. They’re one step up from the luxury liners’ but still regarded as experimental. The Navy says they’re ready for ship trials and we needed special authorization to put them in, but seeing as your crew will all be certified and cleared, yes, they can shift between dimensions—provided you have the power on hand.”
Elizabeth gave him the slightest smile. “We will always have the power on hand.”
She saw that he deliberately chose not to argue with her on that note but moved on to the next section instead and headed down one level to the space beneath the engine room.
“This will be where they’ll seat the fuel cells,” he told her. “As you can see, they’ll hook directly through the ceiling. Once you approve the final payment, we’ll move the Knight to the Navy side of the yards for the final technological fitting.”
The tour continued, and she very quickly reached a point where BURT was more excited about all the bells and whistles, both pending and already on the ship, than she was. All she wanted to know was the nitty-gritty details of how the team had done on their latest mission. She knew they’d all come through it alive, if not exactly in one piece, but that wasn’t enough.
For Stephanie’s sake, she hoped the couple of injuries they’d sustained weren’t life-threatening. That girl never took a team injury well and if they were hurt doing their jobs, that merely made it even worse. She made a mental note to ask BURT for a full debrief later—not the reassurances he’d since given her that all was fine—and forced herself to keep her mind on what Cameron was saying.
He’d finally reached what should be the best part.
“And these, I believe, are where you will stay when you’re on board—the guest suites.”
Elizabeth perked up and smiled as she followed him into the space beyond. Immediately, Amy and Tracy broke away and searched the adjoining rooms while the engineer took her on a more leisurely tour. She stifled a sigh.
Her two bodyguards did exactly what she paid them for, but she really missed the days when it was only her and BURT. She followed her guide into the first suite and stopped.
“Well...” she managed after a moment of slack-jawed staring. “You’ve certainly outdone yourselves.”
Part of her wondered if the furnishings were truly necessary, but BURT had explained the importance of impressing any clients or important personages they might have on board.
“They need to be overawed by not only her magical prowess but the kind of power that can affect them in their political and social circles. For that, we need an all-pervading display of wealth.”
A little gob-smacked—which, she conceded, didn’t happen very often—she noted Meligornian crystal lamps, sherv silk carpets, and gleaming timber from a Dreth drakewood. There were pictures that reminded her of some she’d seen touted as masterpieces by rising art stars and small, elegant statues that she hoped were firmly affixed to the surface on which they stood.
“And the rest?” she asked when she finally found her voice.
It did not disappoint her at all.
From the walk-in robe, to the spacious bathroom, to the top-of-the-line printer for emergency garment replacement in the bedroom and the food replicator for luxury snacking in the living room, there wasn’t one need that had been overlooked or one expense that had been spared.
Even the entertainment units had been fully stocked.
Cameron watched her rove around the room and inspect one thing after another, and a small smile played at the corners of his mouth. When she returned to him he asked, “Did we miss anything?”
“Cabana boys and palm fronds?” she snapped in response and immediately blushed.
He laughed. “You might find those in the VR pods.”
Ms E gave him a broad smile. “Yes, I might. Where to next?”
Their next stop proved to be the pod rooms. There were two, but Elizabeth was really only interested in one. She breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed the Dreth-sized pod set one row back from the one she’d specified for Stephanie.
Two disc-shaped pods stood on either side of hers, perfect for two oversized felines to curl up in when they joined her in the Virtual World.
Cameron followed her gaze. “These cats…” he began cautiously. “How house-trained are they?”
“As in will they pee everywhere, or as in will they eat your crew?”
“Both.”
“They have their own sanitation facilities at the base. I’m surprised you weren’t sent the specs.”
He shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t think we received them,” he told her, and she cursed internally.
Still, as glitches went, that one was fairly minor and easily fixed. She pulled out her tablet and pulled up the relevant files from when she’d commissioned them. “Here. I’m sure that with a few minor modifications, you’ll find these sufficient.”
She sent them and he confirmed the receipt when he checked his tablet and nodded. “I can work with it.”
For a moment, she was tempted to challenge him by asking what was wrong with them but she decided she didn’t need a lecture on ship’s physics. She smiled instead. “I’m glad to hear it.”
They moved on in the direction of the hangars.
“One thing I forgot to mention,” Cameron said quietly, and Elizabeth braced for another problem.
To her relief, it was good news. As they stepped out of the lift, he tapped the walls.
Instantly, the two guards went on the alert but he ignored them. “The walls. We’ve had them reinforced. We understand the Morgana can shield her people, so we’ve strengthened the structure throughout to ensure nothing gives way when she does so. It also means,” he continued, “that it can take extra punishment if she decides to throw things around in here.”
She kept her smile in place and nodded, even though she wondered where he’d gotten the impression that Stephanie would feel the need to throw things that hard inside her own ship. Still, she didn’t know the future so she didn’t argue.
By the end of the tour through the hangars, BURT had sounded his approval and she was ready to make the final payment and accept the ship as it stood. The empty housings and slightly unfinished power lines would be completed at the Naval shipyards.
Ms E looked at the engineer. “I understand you’re staying on as the chief engineer,” she stated and he nodded but licked his lips a little nervously.
The fact that he’d been hired without the approval of the owners had come as an unwelcome surprise despite Gareth’s assurances that they’d “love” him. Looking at the assessment in her eyes, he hoped to blazes the man had sent her the correct resume.
And that he’d made a good impression.
“Good,” she told him. “I look forward to working with you.”
The team was ready to leave when Elizabeth walked into One R&D HQ a week later.
“It’s good to see you.” Stephanie greeted her with a warm hug. “I was worried we’d leave before you got here.”
“Oh, there’s no fear of that,” she told her. “Burt was under strict instructions.”
The witch’s smile wavered. “They say we can’t take Marcus.”
She regarded her with an understanding gaze. “And?”
“I don’t want to leave him behind. The Dreth will want to see the whole team.” She glanced at Vishlog. “And I don’t know how they’ll feel if we arrive one short but I don’t want to make him worse by insisting he go.”
Elizabeth put her hand on her hip and considered the situation. “Would the Dreth be insulted if we arrived one short?” she asked and looked at Vishlog.
His brow furrowed and he gave a slow nod. “It is possible that those less agreeable would see it as a sign of weakness and use it against us.”
“Well, we can’t have that, now, can we?” Miss E commented and returned her gaze to Stephanie. “Tell me, how did you get Todd on his feet so quickly?”
She waved a hand at Vishlog. “And him? Although I notice you haven’t finished the job.”
The younger woman looked confused. “I didn’t do anything with Todd,” she began and stopped when Elizabeth smiled.
“I’ve read the medical reports. The doctors note unusually rapid healing with fewer complications than they’d anticipated, and they mark the improvements from your first visit.”
“But I didn’t— Oh...”
“Yeah, you did,” she teased. “And you’re not about to go into combat so there’s no reason you can’t give Marcus an extra push and get him out of there.”
Stephanie pivoted. “I need a car. I need a...Lars!”
“I’m right here. You don’t need to shout.” His reproof was mild and Ms E tossed him her keys.
“Second slot on the left,” she told him to direct him to where she’d left the car in the One R&D garage.
Lars followed Stephanie, almost tripping over Zeekat as the cat hurried to catch up with his mistress.
“Oh no, cat. You’re not going,” the man said firmly
Stephanie’s response was immediate. “Zeekat, stay. Bumblebee, stay. Guard!”
The felines stopped and sat with their ears cocked and tails swishing. Lars dodged around them and headed to the garage where she already leaned against Ms E’s vehicle and tapped her foot.
Back upstairs, Elizabeth looked at the team. “Well, what are the rest of you waiting for? Don’t you have a checklist to go through?”
She caught a few quickly hidden smiles as they went to work and pretended not to hear Frog’s half-muttered snark.
“Oh, sure. And we’re all very glad to see you, too, Ms E.”
It was good to know she’d been missed.
Amy waited until they were safely in the office before she asked, “Is she gonna make them late?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I called ahead to let the hospital know she was coming and to have the appropriate people standing by. They’ll be back before the team has to leave.”
“But how did you know?”
“BURT briefed me, and I know both the expectations of the Dreth and how our girl thinks. I also know that she might be the Witch of the Federation, but she’s also a kid. She forgets things.”
Tracy snorted. “Yeah, and she’s more used to breaking things than fixing them.”
She smiled. “There is that, too. She merely needed reminding.”
“You couldn’t have reminded her earlier?”
“Lars drives like a madman. They’ll be fine.”
“Or they’ll be arrested.”
“He’s not that crazy.”
“You’d better hope not, boss.”
“Which reminds me. Don’t you have boots to polish or weapons to clean or something?”
The girls smiled. “Well, seeing as you’re in your office and there’s only one way out, we’ll be in the next room...ma’am.”
Stephanie was back with enough time to change and see Marcus settled on the shuttle. She looked a little bit pale, and was slightly subdued but happier, although one look at Vishlog made her frown.
He gave her a broad Dreth grin and showed her his teeth. “Don’t look at me like that, Stephanie.”
Pointing at Marcus, he added, “He’s in worse shape than I am and besides...” He gestured at the rest of the team. “You’re going to Dreth. I can’t trust you with these guys. They’d probably get you into a barfight.”
“Hey!” Frog, at least, knew when his reputation had gone before him.
Vishlog ignored him. “A barfight on Dreth should be considered a small tactical squad operation—and their politics are as hospitable. I am coming.”
His tone brooked no argument but he rolled his shoulders and winced when he moved the injured one. “Besides, when you’ve finished with Marcus, maybe there is something you can do for this.”
Stephanie stepped around Zeekat and scratched Bee between the horns. She managed a small smile as she dropped into the set beside him. “I’m sorry, Vish. I should have thought—”
“You are not the only one with a head.”
Avery and Brenden took the shuttle into orbit where the Federation Naval cruiser Wyatt’s Hope was waiting.
“Thank you,” she said when the captain came to greet them. “I didn’t expect Navy support for this trip.”
He gave her a wry smile. “It is our honor to escort the Federation’s only Witch.”
She caught the unofficial “but” underlying his official greeting. “And?”
His smile became genuine. “That and High Command didn’t want another luxury liner attacked because you were on it.”
“That’s more like it,” she told him and stifled a yawn. “Having said that, isn’t Dreth a long way out for you guys?”
The captain nodded as he led the team down the corridor to their quarters. “It would be, but the Meligornians insisted on meeting us halfway and escorting you for the remainder of the journey. We did, of course, point out that you were an Earth citizen and they reminded us you were also one of their own.”
Stephanie thought she saw where he was going but she let him finish anyway.
When she didn’t interrupt, he obliged. “It wasn’t something we could argue.”
He stopped and indicated a door. “We’ll bunk your team in there.” He turned to the door opposite. “And you and the cats are here.”
She was about to thank him when he hesitated. “I wondered...” He allowed the sentence to trail off and waited until she gave him her full attention.
“Yes?”
“Well, it is traditional for the off-duty crew to watch the Earth as we depart,” he told her. “We’d appreciate it if you and your team would join us.”
“I’d be honored.”
A short walk later, they stood on what the captain termed the rear observation deck surrounded by the ship’s company while they all watched the Earth grow smaller. Stephanie had also discovered that the Navy was charging One R&D for the privilege of transporting them, so the cost of the voyage would come out of their own pockets.
“Penance for hijacking a shuttle,” Lars whispered when the ship’s purser had stepped away. “You can bet your next pair of fancy underwear on it.”
“That, and we know where she is,” another voice said behind them and they both jumped.
The man who stood there was as nondescript as they come.
“Ryan, intelligence liaison,” he explained and introduced himself. “If you’re not already aware of it, the Navy is happier knowing exactly where you are because you create hot spots wherever you go—and we like knowing where the next one will crop up.”
Several of the crew closest hushed them, and he gestured toward the view.
“I always find it ironic that we leave the world we are protecting so very far behind.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the view twisted around them and the ship transitioned out of Earth space and into the dimension between.
Chapter Nineteen
Two days later, they were on the mess deck. With a week to the transition point and another week before the engines had regenerated the power they’d need to transition, the team had begun to feel slightly stir crazy.
Noticing the signs, Stephanie and Lars approached the captain. “We’d like to do some sparring with the Marines you have on board if that’s at all possible.”
After negotiating with the Marine captain, the exercise had been agreed to and the pod time allocated. Steph had gone to inspect the devices, saying she’d catch them up for breakfast, and Lars had headed to the mess with the guys.
“Someone has to keep them out of mischief,” he’d explained and Steph had grinned. “Save some for me.”
Zeekat and Bumblebee walked with her and Vishlog insisted that she not go alone.
&nb
sp; “I’m not a child, Vishlog.”
“No, you are not, but I am your sworn arms man and it is my duty.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. She’d discovered her healing magic didn’t work anywhere near as effectively on the Dreth as it did on humans, and that was worrisome—especially as she didn’t have access to “her” Burt and VR pod to test why.
The warrior still struggled with his injury, while Marcus was well on the road to recovery—although perhaps not up to a VR bout with Marines. She didn’t know what virtual exertion would do to the wound and she didn’t want to find out.
She made her mind up to sideline him and chose one of the others to stay with him. They could both watch the match in one of the side rooms where there were screens set up for that kind of thing. As far as she could tell, the pods were at the higher end of the VR scale and worked fine.
By the time she and Vishlog arrived at the mess deck, breakfast was in full swing and so was the conversation.
“I might be a Marine but that doesn’t mean I’m gullible.” The statement drifted down the hall and Stephanie paused and stepped to one side of the door.
Her guard stopped beside her, his face amused.
“Well, you’d be stupid not to believe me,” retorted a familiar voice, and she stifled a groan.
Truly? She peered around the door and, sure enough, Frog stood beside a table full of Marines, a plate of food in one hand and cutlery and coffee in the other. He set his cup down on the corner of the table.
“Yup. Whatever contest you have in mind—however tricky you think you’re gonna be—the only thing that’ll happen is that she’ll hand your rock-headed asses to you on a plate.”
“Uh huh,” one of the Marines drawled. “And I suppose magic can do something about a half-dozen weapons firing all at one time?
“Hells, yes, it can,” the guard told him, took a forkful of yellow, and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed hastily and washed it down with a swig of coffee before he continued.
“She can lasso the weapon out of a guy’s hand and pass it to one of the team so we can keep firing and our ammo never runs out. Or she can make someone’s weapon explode while they’re still holding it.”
Witch Of The Federation III (Federal Histories Book 3) Page 22