A week after we returned, Dr. Rannor and the captain came back into the visitor’s room. They both looked a bit tired and concerned. I could sense they were worried about my meeting with High Command. For the first time I realized they did not trust or respect High Command and the Emperor nearly as much as I had when I first came on board.
“It is time,” was all Dr. Rannor said before he opened the seal to our chamber.
“My orders are to put you on the Dark Talon and send you to the capital planet. Once there you will receive new orders. I am also to send Larath with you,” said the captain.
“Send Larath ahead of us if you must, but he cannot board the Dark Talon,” I said forcefully.
“Vydor, is there something I need to know?” asked the captain.
“Yes, but I cannot tell you here. Do you have a pad I can use?” I asked.
Dr. Rannor found one and gave it to me. I then encoded a message to the captain in the Duck Code explaining what we knew about Larath. “Captain, after we are safely underway and Larath is gone, take this pad to Peter. He will know what to do,” I said as I handed the pad to him.
He hid it away in his uniform jacket and then said, “Vydor, I know your orders are to prevent anyone from boarding the ship, but Zalith has requested access. He says you know why.”
“Yes I do. Have him meet us in the bay. Now that I can be there and pretend to care about my orders by escorting him, what he wants can be done,” I said with a big smirk. Then over our telepathetic net I said, “Andreya, please make sure to hide all our newly-acquired things before I board with him.”
“Will do,” she replied.
“Captain, I think we are ready,” I said.
The captain walked down to the bay with us, but did not say anything until we got there. Then he looked at Dr. Rannor who gave him a slight nod, and said, “Vydor, you and your squad are welcome back on this ship, regardless of anything that happens with the High Command.”
“Captain, no matter what happens, I do not see how this can unfold without us being side by side in battle, and sooner rather than later.”
He looked me right in the eye, placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “We will win this war, Vydor, together. Until we meet again, good luck and farewell.”
Dr. Rannor then approached me, and did something no one had ever done in my entire adult life; he actually hugged me. I did not know how to respond to that, but Kellyn urged me, “Hug him back,” so I did. With that he left without saying a word.
We entered the bay, again greeted by an honor guard, but this time without the biohazard suits. Zalith stood near the ship waiting for us. We walked up to him and I could tell he was still not happy with me. On my mental cue Darnath moved forward and lowered the shields around the ship. “Okay, Andreya, you go in. Everyone else stay here,” I sent via our link.
“Zalith, I will take you on the ship shortly. Andreya just needs to handle the rest of the security on board,” I said.
“Security?” he asked.
“Yes, let’s just say that time spent out there on the front line tends to make you more paranoid than a desk job,” I replied.
That actually brought a small smile to his face as he said, “Aye, that it does.”
“Okay, Vydor, it is all done. I am on my way out,” sent Andreya.
“She is finished,” I said, moments before Andreya appeared in the doorway. Once she was off the ship Zalith and I boarded. He went straight over to a wall and removed a panel. Behind it was a hidden safe, which he quickly opened and pulled out a box.
“Vydor, I must confess when I first heard that the Dark Knights had been wiped out but you lived, I assumed they died covering your dishonorable retreat. But since then I have done nothing but pore over the information that you sent and watch how you interact with your new squad. You share a bond with them that only comes from staring down death and winning as a team. I know now why you did not stand and die honorably with the Knights. You had others to protect, and a battle to win. No Zalionian warrior could have accomplished this feat, since they would have blindly died fighting head-on an enemy you beat with smarter tactics. My only regret now is that I never got to see you in action. You truly are a great warrior, no matter what those idiots in High Command end up saying.” After that he just left in his normal, brusque style.
I did not know what to make of him. Some days I was sure he wanted to rip my head off and use it as a soup bowl, and other days I swore he would give his life to protect me. On top of that, now it was obvious he had even less respect for High Command than anyone I had met. I was starting to wonder if any senior officer still believed in the Emperor.
Everyone filed on to the ship and to my surprise they all filled in key positions on the bridge. Darnath was first to speak up, “Sir, I will take navigation. I spent the last week studying it.”
Then Luke said, “Sir, I am a certified pilot, and I spent the last week studying the specs of this vessel, so I will take the pilot’s position.”
Then Jerran said, “Sir, I spent the week studying the tactical systems, so I can take that position.”
I looked back to the other three and Kellyn piped up, “And we all spent the week studying damage control, and the like. Wasn’t that really a brilliant idea?” she said with great excitement.
I knew there was no way through conventional means that they could have learned so much so fast, especially about a classified vessel while locked in prison-like confinement. “Well, I should say something like we must work out some rules for proper use of our powers amongst the mundane, but instead I will say “well done”! We can worry about the rules later. Everyone prepare for departure. Darnath, please work out our jump to the way point, and get that programmed in.” I then activated the ship-to-ship communications and said, “Dark Talon requesting permission to depart, flight plan Alpha Beta Charlie Niner.”
“Dark Talon, we are preparing the bay for your departure. Please stand by,” came the reply.
On the ship’s viewing screen I saw the hanger’s crew and the honor guard filing out of the bay. Once they were clear there was a rush of air on the monitors as the bay depressurized in preparation for opening the outer doors. Next, the magnetic locks released from the ship and Luke took control of the craft. Once the other bay doors were opened we got the call over the radio, “Dark Talon, you are cleared for departure. We will send you jump algorithms before you clear the wake.”
“Negative, Bay Control, we do not need the algorithms,” I replied.
There was a pause, then a hesitant, “Acknowledged. Bay Control out.”
I smiled. That must have had them really confused.
Luke then expertly flew out of the bay and said, “We will be clear of the gravity wake in about twenty-seven minutes.”
“Excellent. Okay, since you are all so well trained in the specs of this ship, get working on disabling all recording devices on this ship. Gafar, see if you can figure out what Zalith took,” I said.
Gafar said, “Vydor, he took a memory bank. It was tied to the ship’s internal sensors, but primarily used for personal storage.”
“Personal storage?”
“Yes. Journals, diaries, personal logs, that kind of thing.”
So Zalith was not lying after all. He really was after personal effects. “We will need to get that replaced, then.”
“Vydor, are you planning to keep this vessel?” asked Kellyn.
“Yes, we need a base to work out of, and this is a good size for us.”
“How do you plan to get them to give it to us?”
“Well, I plan to steal it.”
“Vydor! That is not a good plan. Whatever happened to the rule about always doing the right thing?”
I sighed, “You are right, Kellyn. I will request it from High Command, and if they turn me down we will figure out something else. Meanwhile, I may have to appoint you as the official conscience of the Council of Wizards,” I said with a grin. I was not sure why, but I felt like deciding not to steal the ship was a small victory for us.
I returned to the captain’s seat while I waited for us to clear the wake.
“Vydor, before we jumped last time you meditated, and when I finally came out of the post-jump effects I noticed that you were already in control of the ship. Does meditation somehow help you come out of it faster?” asked Andreya.
“Yes, it avoids almost all the impact of the jump. I would have told you but I promised the Dark Knights I would keep it secret,” was my answer.
“So this method is not generally known?” asked Kellyn.
“No, it is their secret weapon that gives them a big edge in combat,” I said. “As far as I know they are the only ones ever to figure it out.”
“Well then, we shall all keep their secret,” stated Kellyn, and the others nodded in agreement.
“Vydor, we are clear of the wake and can jump when you are ready,” said Luke.
“Give a five-second countdown and then jump,” I said.
“Jumping in five … four… three…” was all I heard as I slipped into a trance. The post-jump beep of the computers alerted me to the end of the jump and this time everyone but Kellyn was awake. “Do not look alive just yet. It would be best if they do not know how fast we can recover,” I said. I waited until I saw Kellyn come out of the post-jump hangover, and then announced our presence to the planetary defense network.
“Dark Talon, please relinquish control of your craft. We will take you into the meeting point,” was the only reply. Their security codes checked out, so I really had no choice but to comply.
“Luke, do as they ordered,” I said. Then I responded on the radio, “Acknowledged.”
Soon the ship was dropped into full stealth mode, and all viewing screens were turned off. They apparently did not want anyone to know where we were going, not even us. “Do we have access to any sensors?” I asked.
“No, sir, all controls are offline, and because we are in stealth mode I cannot even probe for someone outside that can see us,” responded Darnath.
“Well then, enjoy the ride, I guess.” It made sense that they would keep the location of the High Command a secret. I just did not like not being in control. Not one bit.
“Okay, everyone, here is our plan. You are to hide wands on your person, but leave your staves here. I will be carrying mine just in case, and to add to the effect I am going for. When we disembark, everyone is to have their hoods up, and to stand tall and proud. Do all that you can to look as powerful as possible. Show not even the slightest fear or worry. Instead, act like you are in complete control of everything. We want to make a strong statement for our first impression,” I said. “When we walk, I will lead and you follow. Form up double-file behind me. Do not let anyone break our group, and prevent any security measure from seeing you.”
As I finished saying that I felt the ship come to a landing. That was much too fast to be on the planet; we must have been in a station in orbit. I threw up my hood and grabbed my staff. The lights came on in the ship and the systems returned to normal. “Darnath, see to it that the ship is safe while we are in there. If all goes badly we will return here and fly her home to the Dragon Claw.”
“Dark Talon, please disembark from your vessel now,” came the order over the radio.
I waited a full five minutes, and then opened the airlock. I felt Andreya wrap a subtle aura of darkness around us to help create the effect I was looking for. We walked down the ramp. Instead of an honor guard like there had been on the Dragon Claw, we were greeted by heavily-armed and armored security forces. I walked fearlessly up to the head of the squad and said, “We are ready.” I could tell that shook him a bit.
“Sir, I need to take your staff,” he said.
“No, you will not,” I said and laced my words with a bit of fear. I hated to manipulate him like that, but I could not risk losing the staff when we would soon be facing Larath.
“Follow me, then,” he said.
We followed him to a high security checkpoint. He stopped to get clearance to enter, but I led everyone right through the security screens without triggering a single alarm. Once clear, I stopped and without looking back waited for him. I could hear them mumbling in shock, as we did not even show on their scanners. After a minute I said, “Corporal, the High Command is waiting.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” he said and resumed leading us down a long corridor. When we reached a large door he headed to the commpad, presumably to request that the door be opened.
I approached the door and cast a minor unlocking spell and then pushed the door open with telekinesis. The guards looked on in shock. From their perspective I merely waved my hand over the door and it opened. We then walked into the chambers and I saw the members of High Command sitting around a U-shaped table. Larath was in the center, as if they were grilling him. When we entered they all stood. Andreya’s illusion of power around us was working perfectly; they were on their feet before they remembered who it was that we were. Larath turned to look at me and I immediately reached out to see what he was up to. He sent one last message back to his master: “He is definitely the one,” then did all he could to lock down his mind.