Witch Of The Federation (Federal Histories Book 2)

by Michael Anderle

  Stephanie smiled and gazed at the face in front of her, amazed that so much about her seemed familiar. “Yes, you are.”

  The woman returned her gaze and her smile and shook her head. “I’m not sure how many greats I would need to put in front of granddaughter to be accurate, but you are the spitting image of my mother. Are you all well?”

  She nodded. “I suppose. I don’t know a lot about the Morgana side of the family, only what my mother has shown me through a journal passed down to her. My father...” She sighed. “I don’t know where he went, but I did read about you and your time on Earth.”

  Morgana laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Whatever you don’t know will eventually come to light. Wherever your father is, I’m sure there is a good reason for it. Morganas—both the men and the women—are bred with a sense of responsibility and loyalty. Either way, it is good to see your face. I have sensed you for a while and attempted to project myself here, but it took you a while to reach this point.”

  Stephanie laid her hand over her companion’s and simply stood in silence to soak in the sense of closeness to her.

  The older woman looked around at the scenery and sighed. “This has been good for my soul—to know we still exist and yet I am sad, knowing a Morgana is still needed. I must once more put my Morgana mask on for the sake of all sentients.”

  She removed her hand and turned as though to leave, but paused. “Stay true to your bloodline, and may you be the Morgana your people need.”

  Her form began to fade but wavered when she asked, “Will I see you again?”

  The other Morgana gave her a sad smile and shrugged. “Who knows? Perhaps one day, we will meet again. Be at peace and trust your instincts. They are the only things that will always be with you.”

  Stephanie watched as the woman winked out of existence and the Meligornian field along with her. She thought about the words “your people need” and wondered what she’d meant.

  Who were her people? The Meligornians? Humans? And what about the Dreth? Or any other species of beings she might meet later?

  If she was the only Morgana, would everyone be considered her people? Maybe it was a personal choice. She could choose any or all of them to be her people.

  No one could force her to accept everyone, but who did that leave her? Only the people she liked? She shook her head. No. It had to be more than that.

  “Those who need my protection,” she said, “and only those who deserve it.”

  Because there was no way in all the worlds that she would protect those who weren’t worthy.

  She peered cautiously into the blackness her ancestress had left behind. It didn’t seem quite as overwhelming as before, even if she still didn’t know where to go. It surprised her when she heard a voice, one that knew her name.

  “Stephanie,” it called. “Stephanie...”

  Intrigued, she stopped and listened for it to call again. When it did, the sound came from behind her. As she pivoted quickly, she discovered her surroundings had changed.

  In the distance, a pinprick of light glimmered and grew steadily brighter and she felt a small pulse of energy.

  This she recognized. MU, and it was exactly what her body needed.

  Without a second’s hesitation, she surged toward the life force that called to her and seemed to draw her into a welcome reunion.

  The hospital on the Meligorn side of the space station, on a normal day, was very quiet. Ambassador V’ritan arrived with Brilgus in tow and his robes flapped wildly behind him. His footsteps echoed down the corridor and his face held worry and anger. Those who saw him paused in what they were doing to watch him stride out of sight.

  He swept through the doors leading into Stephanie’s ward and pushed them both open. The nurses looked up from behind their station and recognized him immediately. “Ambassador.”

  Before they could stop him, he had already passed them. They glanced at each other, unsure of what to do.

  The ambassador raised a hand dismissively as some vague form of acknowledgment. He’d meant to stop and ask where Stephanie was, but he spotted Marcus and Frog outside a room down the hall. That was more than enough for him.

  He ignored the panicked scramble in his wake and focused only on the men ahead. Brilgus, however, moved to intercept the staff before they could intervene. “I wouldn’t do that. He is extremely worried about a friend.”

  They exchanged nervous glances, then looked at the bodyguard. Being only half-Meligornian, he was much larger than they were. Two of them backed away but the head nurse stood firm.

  She came around the desk and stood in front of him. “He might be the ambassador, but he should have let us know he was coming. Fortunately, we think she can handle one visitor, or I’d be fired for hauling him out of there. Next time, though...”

  “Yes. I will make sure you are notified,” he reassured her, not at all sure he would given how the press would react if the news were to reach them.

  He fixed her with a stern look, and she stared defiantly in return with no apparent concern for either his size or the ambassador’s not inconsiderable power, political and otherwise. Brilgus considered that a good sign. It meant she cared enough for the patients to do what was best for them regardless of who might be in the way or the consequences. It meant Stephanie was in good hands.

  Frog stifled a yawn as he turned and glanced down the hall. His eyes widened and he nudged Marcus with his elbow and directed his attention down the hall.

  The other man took one look at the ambassador and nodded. “I will speak to him.”

  As the visitor neared the door, he intercepted him, stepped in his way, and blocked his path to the door. His teammate stood in front of the door and watched them both as he used the team’s comms to call Lars.

  Being the Meligornian side of the station, they’d had to source the local equivalent of Earth tech to use for comms. Those had taken a few days to source but now, they had enough for four of them to be on the floor, armed and in contact with each other at all times.

  Ambassador V’ritan stopped and regarded the two guards calmly, but before he could speak, Marcus extended his hand. He ignored every protocol of Meligornian greeting he’d ever been taught.

  The visitor, used to Earth’s customs, didn’t hesitate but reached out and shook his hand. “Marcus. I need to see her.”

  The guard stood firm but he didn’t disagree. “Of course, sir, but I must warn you, she’s in a coma. She’s unconscious but here, as far as we can tell. We’re not sure if she can hear you when you talk to her, but Lars speaks to her every day.”

  Behind him, Frog spoke softly into his comms. He stopped and listened for a moment before he tapped his partner on the shoulder. “The Ambassador can go in now.”

  Marcus gave the V’ritan a brief smile. “I’m sure she’ll recognize your voice, sir,” he said as he and Frog returned to their positions on either side of the door.

  “Thank you.” The Meligornian slipped past him swiftly and into the room, not worried when the door closed immediately behind him.

  Down the corridor, Brilgus watched as the head nurse set her assistants tasks that took them down another corridor. Once they were gone, he looked at her.

  She was unfazed. “I take it you don’t want to call the hospital and give that warning.”

  He shook his head. “The lines are not secure.”

  “Call me, then. That way, if it leaks, you only have one person to blame. I’ll let you know if she needs isolation or can be seen. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” he said and took her private number before he trundled down the corridor to Stephanie’s room and greeted the guys as he arrived. “Marcus, Frog, good to see you.”

  He indicated the door. “Is he in there?”

  “He and Lars are with her,” Marcus told him, knowing the information he needed.

  He watched as the bodyguard took a quick look in the room to check and waited until the large man had closed the door again and turned to
him. “What happened?”

  Frog looked up and down the corridor but relaxed when he saw it was empty. “You’ve seen the news, right?”

  Brilgus nodded. “And read the official reports. What I want to know is how Stephanie got hurt.”

  Marcus picked up the story. “The pirates took the ship. There were two boarding parties. One went for Engineering and the other went for the Bridge. When the team on the Bridge demanded the ambassador or they’d blow the ship, Stephanie stepped in.”

  “And you let her?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “You know Stephanie. When her mind is made up, there is no stopping her. We went along to try to keep her safe.” His face sobered. “We didn’t do so well, obviously.”

  The bodyguard looked sympathetic. “She’s still here, isn’t she?”

  Marcus sighed, and Brilgus added. “Tell me how it went down.”

  He explained how Stephanie had used her magic to disguise herself as the ambassador and then hide them from the cameras so they could reach the Bridge undetected. The other man stopped him when he got to the fight.

  “There was a Meligornian?”

  “Yes. It turned out they were Resistance and not pirates. Their captain made the ‘ambassador’ hand over his MU and then attacked. We eliminated the pirates and saved the crew, while she dealt with him. Then, Steph insisted on taking care of the bomb.”

  Brilgus rolled his eyes. “Of course she did.”

  Marcus continued. “We fought them out of the corridors and all the way down to the atrium. You’ve seen it?”

  When his companion nodded, he went on. “They’d planted the bomb on the third floor, so we killed the invaders and Steph cut the floor out from under it and floated it down to the main entry.”

  The man whistled. “That is very powerful work.”

  He shook his head. “She had help. There were two Meligornians on board who helped her, and they’re the only reason she made it as far as she did. We’d have been in a lot of trouble if they hadn’t been along.”

  “Worlds of hurt,” Frog confirmed.

  Marcus ignored him and kept going. “We got the bomb onto the pirate ship and Steph pointed the vessel away and set it to move at top speed. She also got us back on board the liner, but things weren’t over.”

  Brilgus raised his eyebrows.

  “The pirates had planted a worm and it cycled the engines to drain the batteries until they became too depleted to operate the engines before the ship’s tech team could clear it. With the controls back online, Steph powered the engines. In fact, I think she almost overpowered them, then she transitioned us right out of there.”

  He paused at the memory, and his face clouded with concern. “If the Meligornians hadn’t been there, we’d have lost her, but they gave her some power crystals and healing, and she’s still here.”

  “And Johnny,” Frog added. “Crystal gave him enough to stop the bleeding or he’d be gone.”

  “She didn’t heal him completely?” Brilgus was unimpressed.

  “We were still fighting the Resistance at that point. I think she was conserving her power...and we’re glad she did.”

  The bodyguard glanced at the door. “Yes, we are. And Johnny?”

  “He’s over on the human side. They say he’ll be fine.”

  Before any of them could say any more, they heard the bell at the nurses’ station being rung incessantly at the other end of the hall. The three of them looked up to see what was going on.

  Beside Brilgus, the two guards became instantly alert. Frog backed up and spoke into his comms, and Marcus moved to put himself between the station and his partner.

  Seconds later, Frog reported back. “They’re on their way.”

  They all glanced at the nurses’ station and focused on the Meligornian dinging the bell at the counter and the four guards arrayed around him. Two of them had noticed the group outside the room and moved to block their line of sight—and fire—to the bell ringer.

  Marcus glanced up at Brilgus. “Is that anyone you know?”

  At the nurses’ station, the king tapped his foot and rang the bell again. He was not impressed when the nurse behind the counter reached over and slid the bell out from under his hand. She didn’t even look up but kept her eyes glued to the screen in front of her, while she used her other hand to jot notes down on the tablet in front of her

  “Leave the bell alone. You’ll wear it out.”

  The king cleared his throat, but she didn’t look up.

  “I’ll be with you in a moment. In this hospital, the patients come first, no matter who thinks they need to see them.”

  “The ambassador?” the king drawled, and Temerl—the closest guard and Head of Royal Security—glanced at him. He met the man’s eyes just as the nurse replied.

  “Anyone who is impatient,” she snapped. “You can’t simply barge in when a patient needs quiet to recover and I won’t allow it. Now, if you’ll give me a few more seconds, I’ll be right with you.”

  The guard smirked, and the king raised his eyebrow as he wondered what his head of security found so amusing. The smirk vanished and the man shrugged.

  They waited for another few moments, which meant a necessity to stand there and deflect the wide-eyed glances from the few people who walked past. Quite understandably, most of them stared in disbelief when they saw the king of Meligorn standing at the nurses’ station like anyone else.

  When the nurse continued to ignore them, he cleared his throat and leaned forward. “I understand the ambassador was a little impatient, but if you make me wait much longer, I’ll make his impatience seem as if it was mere impertinence.”

  The nurse’s hands paused. “Well, who do you think you are? The king?”

  She looked up and her disapproval was instantly swept aside by an expression of horror. “Oh, I’m so sorry, my king—”

  Her mouth stopped moving and she froze for a moment. He suppressed an amused smile and watched as she shut her mouth and stood hastily. She moved so fast that she almost knocked her stool over. “Oh, I’m so sorry, my king. We get so many people in every day and—”

  The king held his hand up. “Which way?”

  She swallowed hard and pointed down the corridor with her stylus. “Down that way and the eighth door on your left. There should be people outside.”

  He looked down the hall and noticed Brilgus with two human guards stationed at the door in question. Farther up the corridor, he saw another two humans fast-stepping to join them. All were heavily armed. Again, he glanced at his security chief.

  The man looked past him and studied the scene. “Brilgus is there. He will explain.”

  With one last look at the stunned nurse, the king stepped away from the counter. “I see. Carry on.”

  He turned and moved with his guards toward Stephanie’s room, leaving the nurse standing behind the desk, her mouth once again hanging open.

  Temerl walked with the King. Usually, he’d have stayed at the palace, but this was too good an opportunity to miss—an impromptu visit, and two of the biggest threats to their cause in one place. He narrowed his eyes and brushed his hand lightly over the blaster at his hip

  Ahead of him, Stephanie’s team saw the gesture, tensed, and relaxed only when he moved his hand away from the weapon. There were more guards than he had originally accounted for, but they’d remain outside the room and shouldn’t be in any position to stop him. Either way, he wouldn’t allow the witch and the ambassador to get in the way of his faction’s plans to work with the coming alien force.

  The king might not see it but working with the newcomers rather than against them was Meligorn’s best hope for surviving the coming war—and V’ritan would only stand in the way. Besides, V’ritan was a useless piece of royal history who needed to be finished.

  He needed to be removed before he became the King’s Warrior once again. If that happened, it would upset the invaders’ plans for Meligorn. Plans that were already underway.

&n
bsp; As the king approached, Marcus, Frog, Brenden, and Avery prepared for action. Judging by his guards, the newcomer had to be important, but he was nothing compared to the task of keeping Stephanie and the ambassador safe. The simple truth was that important didn’t always mean safe.

  They watched Brilgus and noticed that the bodyguard-advisor was tense but not alarmed. He kept his eyes on the approaching entourage and answered Marcus’s question, his voice soft with shock. “It’s the king.”

  Frog began a muttered conversation into his comms again, and Marcus swore.

  The large man snorted softly. “Yes.”

  The most important-looking of the royal escort took a step forward and placed himself in front of the king. A second guard followed the movement, and the first guard moved swiftly ahead as if he intended to walk through the door.

  Temerl appeared to ignore the team and strode at a steady pace, much like he didn’t care who they were or what they were doing. He only stopped when one stepped in his way and put his hand out, holding his palm up inches from his chest.

  Marcus held the guard’s gaze and curled his lip. “Exactly where do you think you’re going?”

  The security head looked down his nose at the man, glanced at Brilgus, and stepped around the warning hand. This time, when he stopped, it was because the two guards had jammed their blasters into his belly.

  He held his temper in check and made a show of looking down at the blasters and then into their eyes. A small smirk moved across his lips and he arched an eyebrow.

  Marcus wasn’t impressed. He gritted his teeth and shoved his blaster a little harder against his stomach. “I’ll fill you so full of lead, you will shit metal for a week. You don’t pass without permission.”

  Frog held his weapon firm and leaned into his teammate. “Uh, I don’t think they shit, Sherlock. And besides, that’s a blaster you’re holding. It doesn’t have slugs.”

  The other man didn’t budge. He kept his eyes locked on the leader, who hadn’t moved, but remained aware of the other four Meligornians at the rear. Avery and Brenden moved up alongside him, and Brilgus leaned his shoulder against the door.