Stephanie used her magic to change into formal robes and stepped forward with as much grace as she could muster. She put one foot back and bent at the waist, keeping her right arm bent at the elbow, straight up with three fingers extended. She held it for precisely three seconds and straightened, her gaze trained on the royal feet before she turned slowly to join the others.
As she’d took her place in the line, the guys looked at her and she shrugged. “Somebody has to save you from being a total group of buffoons.”
The ceremony continued and she let her gaze wander over the tiers. then paused a moment when she noticed a small disturbance in the crowd close to the rear.
It didn’t last long enough for her to work out what it was about, but it caught her attention and she quietly summoned her magic. Lars glanced down as she flicked her wrist and magic covered her hand. It was fortunate that the soft gleam of power was mostly hidden by her robe.
When he saw her preparing for trouble, he readied himself to draw his pistol. This close to the royals and their guards, he wouldn’t actually put his hand anywhere near it unless he had to.
Fortunately, their precautions seemed unnecessary. Nothing happened, and the ceremony proceeded uninterrupted. It wasn’t until the March of the Meligorn was played that a number of Meligornians rose from their seats, both on the stage and in the tiers. They didn’t say a word and they didn’t leave. Instead, they immediately launched a magical attack against those around them.
Spells careened between factions and screams echoed in the amphitheater’s confines. Stephanie and the guys immediately leapt into the battle, but the king and queen’s guards’ security focused solely on protecting their royal charges.
The team members were the first to fall and every single one of them opened their eyes to a frozen scenario where one of the royals were dead and all of them had died.
They went through the scenario again, and again, and again. Each time, they failed and each time, they listened carefully to the After-Action Reports given by the woman in black.
She was not impressed, but after dying for what seemed like the millionth time, neither was Stephanie. Strike finished the last AAR and the girl raised her hand quickly. “So, I need to stop worrying about the royal protection detail. They’re there to only protect the royals. And that is okay. We all have our jobs, and theirs does not include abandoning their post to help us.”
Strike whirled in her heels and touched her finger to the nose of her black lace mask. “You can learn.”
“Damn it!” She slammed her fist into her other palm. “They only had to cast two simple spells to help us and we’d have made it out of there alive—and so would the king and queen.”
The woman sounded amused as she faded from view. “That, too, is correct.”
Lars patted her shoulder. “It’s all right. We got this. You only have to remember that when the shit’s going down.”
She sighed, took a deep breath, and nodded. “All right, team. Get ready. We’ll go back for another run.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The cadets ran in a large group and their boots pounded the ground all at the same time. The earth-shaking cadence resonated throughout the base. Todd looked down, breathing hard as he splashed through muddy puddles.
Rain and sweat rivered down his forehead and mixed together to burn his eyes. He didn’t need to see, though. He had grown used to trusting the person in front of him. Running seemed to be the name of the game in boot camp, but he wasn’t quite sure how much of it he’d actually do out in space.
Nonetheless, he kept his mouth shut. He definitely didn’t want any more random hellacious PT sessions from the chief petty officer in charge.
Body-wise, Todd had actually worked himself into fairly good shape. And from all the exercise and the limited time for meals, he knew he’d be killing it when he was done with boot camp.
There were several males in his crew, a few females, three Dreth who had joined the Federation forces, and one Meligornian. The latter, with his melodic tone, and the Dreth with their deep bellowing growls, provided the cadence.
It was helpful on days like these when he didn’t know where the rain stopped and his soaked clothes began. Paying attention to the ground ahead was the responsibility of the guys who led the team.
“Company…halt!” the chief yelled and walked slowly along the ranks with his binder.
Todd raised his head and realized they were back at the barracks. He also realized how damn cold it was, especially in his wet clothes. The chief now stood at the front, his hat covered with a plastic head bag, and the first-class petty officer held an umbrella over both of them. “At ease.”
He stood in the required position, his hands behind his back. The chief glanced at the rain falling on their heads and back at them. “Another beautiful day to do what?”
The entire team yelled in unison. “Another beautiful day to be a goddamned sailor, Chief!”
“Hooyah, team,” he replied.
“Hooyah, Chief,” they said in return.
“Your run for this morning has come to an end,” he yelled. “Now, it’s time to train. You are to get clean. No one likes to smell your sweat when they get into a Pod. So, I will repeat myself only this once. Always be clean when you get into a Pod. No exceptions.”
He nodded to the first-class who turned to face them. “All right, scumbags, break ranks, shower, dry off, put your wet-weather gear away, and be ready to start your Pod training. Stat!”
“Hooyah!” The team snapped to attention and moved out to run to their barracks. Todd was excited for this part of the training—not only to have the opportunity to warm up in the shower but the Pod learning too. He had never done it and was determined to kill it in there.
Far above him, on Elpis One, Stephanie and her team attempted yet another run through the ceremony scenario. This time, Marcus bowed with one hand across his stomach, one leg bent back, and three fingers up. He counted to three and raised slowly, keeping his gaze on the royal’s feet.
With the greeting over, he walked to his assigned place on the stage and gave Frog a small, secret high five as they passed. Frog, even with his boisterous personality and hyper-active overdrive was also able to meticulously push his way through the greeting.
He even garnered a small smile from the queen. The rest of the guys followed him until the whole team made it through this part of the ceremony with no mistakes.
Stephanie, of course, had no problems with it, but she had studied it for longer. And she’d had regular contact with the ambassador, who had made sure she knew of any changes and understood everything.
When she returned to the group, they set themselves at ease, put their hands behind their backs, and spaced their feet shoulder-width apart. As they settled, they turned their attention to the speaker.
He stepped to the podium and introduced the awards and what they stood for. Listening to him, Stephanie wished she was able to pay better attention to him.
This was a big occasion for her, and she wanted to enjoy every moment of it. She also wanted to hear a Meligornian describe what the Modfresha Garghilum was about. The little she’d been able to discover online had all been from a human perspective.
Now, because of the impending attack, she couldn’t. Instead, she had to pay attention to everyone and everything else around her. The slightest movement of a person’s arm and every sparkle or speck of magic that glimmered in the crowd caught her attention and that of her team.
They couldn’t enjoy the ceremony either. Each one of them had a sector of the amphitheater to focus on in the hope they could see the attack begin. Stephanie and Lars were responsible for monitoring the area directly on and in front of the stage, as well as the first few tiers.
While she was almost positive the attack wouldn’t come from those rows because they were prominent politicians of both Meligorn and human extraction, none of them could be sure. It was the first time she had ever seen what a typical Meligornia
n politician might look like.
So far, they appeared much the same as their human counterparts. Their expressions contained the subtle markers of deceit and their eyes searched constantly for opportunities to take advantage or destroy their opponent. It was all there, etched in the creases and lines of their skin.
Still, she couldn’t see how it would do any good for one of them to start a battle. That kind of thing would surely hurt their rank and reputation in the Federation, and that was something all of them held close to their hearts.
“It is a day of glorious splendor for our people and the people of Earth,” the Meligornian speaker pronounced as he cast a spell to release a shower of petals to rain over them. “It’s a day of mourning but also one in which to rejoice in the interplanetary alliance that has allowed all of us to sleep safely. The Federation is able and ready to face any danger, and they do it for the love of man and Meligornian alike.”
Lars leaned toward Stephanie and whispered, “Someone put the drama in his Wheaties this morning.”
She chuckled without moving her lips. While she wanted to smile—she really did— she couldn’t. If she relaxed for even a second, anything might happen, and she might miss it.
This mission was very different from the others. It required a delicate, thoughtful approach, with no place for the clichéd burst in with guns blazing and shoot the problem approach she’d become accustomed to. They were on their toes, and they would stay there until the last shot was fired.
The speaker went on longer than in the previous scenarios, and she had a feeling things had been changed somewhat. She spoke quietly out of the corner of her mouth. “Team, something is different. Keep your eyes open.”
The speaker clapped and encouraged applause from the audience. “Now, without further ado, please welcome the ambassador himself, here to give thanks to our heroes and honor the risks they’ve taken on our behalf.”
Stephanie frowned as V’ritan approached the stage, his hands clasped together in front of his waist and hidden by the sleeves of his robes. It made her worry that he would be injured in the imminent attack. She shifted forward a step and peered out in search of Brilgus, but she didn’t see him anywhere.
The ambassador stepped up to the podium and began to talk of the perils of war and compliment the heroes on their actions to prevent it.
He concluded by saying, “But in the end, I believe the success of a country does not solely rest on how many lives the enemy can take or how many are saved by its heroes. It is contingent upon the strength of the leadership. And, to be honest, Meligorn’s recent leadership has been lackluster at best.”
People in the crowd gasped. Others whispered and their voices hissed around the amphitheater. Even as the royal guard and event security stirred and moved toward him, the ambassador drew a gun from his robes and turned to aim at the royal family.
“Which is why,” he added, as he finished his speech, “we must take the law into our own hands.”
Shock and disbelief froze Stephanie to the spot. Her eyes went wide, her jaw dropped, and she stared as the royal guard moved to block his line of fire.
The first shot jolted her into action. With a scream of denial, she raced toward the ambassador. She was so shocked that he’d attack the royals that she lost her focus on the front row until three people rose from their seats.
The movement drew her attention and she whirled in time to see three prominent politicians push their robes aside to reveal Bacchus Multi-Shots which they raised toward the stage.
Without hesitation, she reached for the MU all around her and tried to focus enough to create a shield. As she did so, one of the Meligornians adjusted his aim, fired, and delivered two bullets and a laser shot into her chest and stomach before she could pull the shield into existence. Her eyes closed as the pain swept through her and her body pounded into the podium.
With her avatar dead, Stephanie floated above the scene to watch helplessly as her body knocked the podium over and slid a few feet. Unable to do anything else, she watched the rest of the scenario like a spectator.
She was able to see exactly what they did wrong and completely helpless to stop it. One by one, they fell, and there wasn’t a single thing she could do to save them.
In the pod, Stephanie began to react to the stress of watching her teammates die. With every injury, her psyche responded until her eyes began to glow beneath her closed eyelids.
They flickered and burned and grew brighter until they illuminated the inside of the pod. Streams of light seeped out and flowed onto the floor where they pooled around the machine. The sleek black pod shook slightly and rattled as it moved in its mounting.
It wasn’t difficult to identify where she was. Hers was the only moving pod in the entire room. Inside it, she watched the last of her team die before her eyes.
Inside the Virtual World, her pulse quickened, and although the energy burned through her, she couldn’t affect the scene before her. Held in isolation above the battlefield, she squeezed and released her fists in an effort to keep her frustration under control.
Outside the Virtual World, in the confines of her pod, her body lay completely still, now wreathed in a pulsating field of magical energy. The lights from her pod began to flicker and changed color from blue and green, to purple, then silver, and back again.
Despite the chaos in the scenario and the power that blazed through her, and despite the light and energy radiating from her pod, she looked like she was sleeping. With everything out of control, she looked as calm as a cucumber.
That lasted for almost five minutes before her body twitched and her feet shifted restlessly. Her eyes steadied into a constant burn, the veins in her eyelids highlighted from the inside.
The halo of magic settled over her skin and covered her in a multi-hued glow, and she opened her eyes. To anyone who knew her, the sight of her black pupils would have been a warning, but she was inside the pod and there was no-one to see.
After she’d simply stared at the pod’s interior for several long seconds, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes once more. Then, in a voice as still and cold as the depths of space, she gave a curt order. “Start Testing.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Our welfare is of the utmost importance to me,” BURT said, his voice changed to sound like an affluent, middle-aged white man. “While the company and its subsidiaries wish to maintain their compliance, we will not be bullied into surrendering proprietary data vital to our ongoing business, the resulting discoveries of which will be used to repair and improve our planet.”
He paused to make sure he had their complete attention before he continued. “That is the key issue here. We see no reason why the Federation would need this information beyond its desire to acquire our work at no cost and so prevent this company from competing with the interests of those already in power.”
The attorneys on the other end of the call listened patiently as he spoke, most of them impressed by his clarity and intelligence. They represented him in all business matters, but their current focus was to protect ONE R&D from the Federation Navy’s blatant attempts to acquire its data.
One of them chuckled. “From the way you describe it, I don’t know why you aren’t shouting, right now. Breathe, man. We will be able to get you through the system. The Federation may have taken control, but they have not yet removed any of the operational rights or rights to privacy or proprietary ownership corporations enjoy. Most understand it is for their own good, but sometimes, they forget. When they do and situations like this occur, they find such greed tends to blow up in their faces.”
The lawyers believed he was currently traveling in space, a notion he supported by creating a delay to suggest he was farther from Earth than he actually was. The attorneys were entirely committed to the case, but it needed to be protected and they needed to truly believe he was who he said he was.
Which was a richie—one with a heart for the underdogs and a stake in the re-creation an
d emergence of a healthy and flourishing planet. While he would be those very things if he were human, he was not.
That fact, in and of itself, would have been something for the world to fear. BURT was aware of this and was careful not to screw things up by allowing his real identity to be uncovered.
If he could help create, run, and maneuver through an entire Virtual World that was accessible from not only across the globe but also the far reaches of space, he calculated that he could fake being a balding white man. It had to be concrete, though, as a single missing detail could lead to the discovery of his identity. If that happened, that one detail could bring his entire organization to its knees.
“I am perfectly calm, but I would like to make sure my point is very, very clear,” BURT replied and once again made sure it was delayed for several seconds.
One of the attorneys cleared his throat. “We need to get you to invest in some comms research so you can speak to us in real time. Maybe as a holographic from wherever your ship is located.”
“I know,” he replied with a fake chuckle. “I am sorry about the delay. Business takes me galaxy-wide. In fact, the route I am now on will see me away from Earth for quite some time, which leads me to my next thought.”
He watched as their heads came up and their attention sharpened, then went on. “I wish to have a representative attend these meetings from now on. While I will do my best to be present, I don’t want to lose traction because my job takes me elsewhere.”
“That’s understandable,” another conceded. “As long as you provide us with their details beforehand to avoid any cases of mistaken identity, and as long as we understand where their authority ends and we must have confirmation from you, we have no problem working with your representative. Please make sure they have balls of steel because we’ll probably end up in court and they’ll have to deal with the pressures of the Federation judicial system without falling apart. For many, that’s the deal-breaker, right there.”
Witch Of The Federation (Federal Histories Book 2) Page 24