“Vydor, this is our final jump. It should put us only ten minutes from the fleet,” came Darnath’s report as I entered the bridge.
“Excellent,” I replied. The last few days since we spoke to the captain had been fairly uneventful. Kellyn and Andreya talked constantly about wedding plans, and I mostly stayed in the library studying everything we had on the sorcerers.
We all took our positions for the jump, which now entailed everyone except Darnath being in physical contact with me. The dark specter had not tried again since the first encounter he had with all six of us, but he stayed close by, ready for any opening. I knew that he had grown too powerful, and that alone I could never stand against him, but he was no match for the six of us. This jump was no exception. He stood and waited, again giving the impression of saying, “Time is on my side. I can wait.”
When we came back into normal space, on the viewing screen in front of me was the fleet. I had forgotten how massive it was. From this angle we could not see all of it. It spread out far wider than our viewing screens could reach.
“I had better contact them before we drop out of stealth, just in case they are a bit trigger-happy,” I commented. Kellyn brought up the connection on the main viewer, and soon the captain appeared.
“Greetings, Captain, we are about nine minutes from your wake at present, and are about to drop out of stealth,” I said.
“Excellent. As soon as you can, establish the graviton link and pass navigation over to us for the next jump. There will be about a day and a half on the other side of the jump while we skirt around a black hole, so we can have your celebration then,” he said.
Our ship’s engines would not be ready to make another jump for hours yet, but relative to the fleet we were so insignificant that they would just drag us along.
“Darnath will get that link up as soon as we are in range. Captain, why don’t you, Dr. Rannor and Zalith join us for dinner after the jump?” I asked.
“That sounds like a great idea, say at 2000?” he asked.
“2000 it is, then,” I said and we ended the transmission.
After the jump Darnath ran up to the mess hall to start cooking. He came from a long line of chefs and we persuaded him into volunteering to cook all the major meals. Kellyn and I also went up to prepare the table and make sure all was in order.
Gafar offered to stay and watch the bridge during the dinner. Out here in interstellar space it was unwise to leave the bridge unmanned. There were too many unknowns to deal with.
“Thank you, Gafar, but this is going to be a problem during the wedding tomorrow. I do not want anyone to have to miss it,” I said.
“Well, maybe the captain can spare some crew members to stand watch so that we need not worry about that,” offered Kellyn.
“That is a brilliant idea,” I said. I was a bit annoyed I had not thought of such a simple answer.
While waiting for dinner, I went to the ship’s library and focused on crafting the scrolls I would need for the battle. I was deep into this preparation when I heard Gafar send from the bridge, “Vydor, the captain’s shuttle is on its way.”
“Okay, I guess we are ready. Land them in bay two.” Zalith would no doubt want to see the Dark Talon, so it was easiest to have them dock in the same bay. We went down to meet them. As soon as the bay was pressurized, we entered it.
Zalith was the first off the shuttle. I walked right up to him and gestured at the Dark Talon while saying, “Hello, old friend, the Dark Talon is ready for you to fly her home after the meal.”
“Thank you, Vydor, but I took the liberty of bringing two Dark Knights to take her home now.” As he said that, they came off the shuttle. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. I was worried what they would think of me, since I had led twenty-five of their squadmates to their death.
One of them walked right up to me and looked directly into my eyes. He was a good half-meter taller than me, but I looked up and held his gaze. I knew that was what he would expect.
“Vydor, we reviewed the logs and journals of your mission, and we are impressed at your honor and valor in the face of death. The battle was won because of your leadership,” he said and handed me an emblem.
I had to break his gaze to see what it was, and I barely held my composure. It was the emblem of the Dark Knights. The significance of this gift was not lost on me; I knew what it meant. They now numbered me as one of their own. Using a minor bit of magic I attached it to my staff, which had become the symbol of my rank. “It will be an honor to fight with the Dark Knights again,” I said with as much pride in my voice as I could muster.
He just gave a slight nod, and they went over to the Dark Talon. I saw that the captain and Dr. Rannor had disembarked from the shuttle. “Well, if I know the Dark Knights they will be asking for clearance to launch right away, so let’s move out of the bay,” I commented. As we exited I told Gafar to give the Knights clearance to launch as soon as they were ready.
Once we were out in the hall, proper greetings and introductions were exchanged all around. Kellyn seemed to be a bit embarrassed over the compliments she received, but she deserved them all and more. As we walked through the training rooms on our way to the lift I noticed the captain was looking around. I wondered what he was looking for. Soon we got to the lift and were on our way to the top deck, and the observation lounge.
On the ride up, the captain remarked, “You know, Vydor, for some reason I was expecting strange things, but so far your Raven looks, well … normal.”
I just smiled and opened the door to the observation lounge with its wide-open view of the fleet around us. Our visitors caught their breath as they walked out under it. They did not say anything for quite some time, and we just let them take it all in. I finally could not resist any longer and said, “I think you were saying something about how normal the ship was?”
“This is an awesome view, Vydor. It is easy to forget what is out there when you spend your time moving from one office to another on the Dragon Claw,” said the captain.
“Yes, we eat most of our meals up here under the stars. It is quite humbling,” I responded.
Darnath, Andreya, Jerran and Luke joined us and we moved over to the table to eat. For a while the conversation over the food was mostly small talk, but eventually it moved to questions about us. Dr. Rannor began by asking, “Kellyn, is it true what they say about you?”
“Well, that depends on what they are saying,” she replied.
“They say you can instantly heal any injury or illness,” he said.
“Well, not exactly. I can heal, but my powers are limited. For instance, I cannot turn back time and make anyone younger, nor can I help anyone who is already dead. Minor injuries are easy, but major things like growing new limbs or organs take a lot out of me. Mental illnesses are beyond me at this stage, which is baffling. I am also fairly limited in the type of healing I can do. For example, if a person is brain-damaged, I can heal the physical brain, but I cannot return to the person the memories and abilities that were lost,” she replied.
“That is remarkable,” he said.
“We are also told that you all talk to each other without speaking, can move objects without touching them, and other impossible feats. How much of these stories are true?” asked the captain.
“They are probably blown out of all proportion but we can do what you just listed. You must understand that we are fairly weak compared to those we will be going up against. We have only had a year to study and practice, and these arts take a lifetime to master,” I said.
“How does this all work?” asked Dr. Rannor.
“It is not as mystical as you might think. There is an energy force is woven through the universe which does not seem to interact at all with normal matter, at least not in any way we have been able to detect. Some people are born with an ability to tap and use this energy, and that is how we achieve what we do. The chanting, wands, and other trappings are used to help focus and store the energy, which is where it starts looking mystical. It seems that each of us is gifted in a different way so that what we can do with the energy is a little different. We can all do some basic things, such as talk telepathically, but for the most part our powers are sharply divided. For example, Kellyn is the only one of us who can heal a serious wound, while Andreya is a master of illusions,” I said.
“You make it sound so simple and normal, yet we have seen what the sorcerers can do with this energy so we know there is great power in it. You say you cannot match them yet, so how are we going to fight them?” asked Zalith.
“We are hoping that when combined with the power of the fleet we will stand a chance. In truth we had planned to stay in hiding for a few more years, but the recent developments out here make me a bit concerned. We need to monitor the situation, at least. I fear if the Seven are here then the sector is theirs and there is not much we can do about it. Historically, though, the Seven have not been known to come out to fight if they think the master wizards are around to fight back, so we are banking on them overestimating us.”
“Are you saying that their most powerful leaders are cowards?” asked Zalith.
“Well, I studied the history of the war they are fighting with the wizards of the other realm, and that is the pattern I have found. They always retreat when the grandmaster wizard or any of the master wizards appear on the scene and send in their underlings to fight for them, and our combined forces should be able to handle their underlings,” I said.
“That is simply unbelievable: to have all that power, and then be afraid to stand and fight,” commented Zalith.
While they continued to ask questions of the others, a thought occurred to me. “Gafar, Dr. Rannor’s brain has several memory blocks in it. We do not know who put them there or why. Assuming he agrees, can you remove them, as you did for me?” I asked telepathically.
“Most likely, but it would be a fairly invasive probe and he would not be able to hide anything,” he replied.
“Well, this has been a great visit, but we must be getting back to the Dragon Claw. Rumor has it I have to get up early for a big event tomorrow,” said the captain.
“I understand, Captain. Too bad you cannot stay for a tour of our little ship. We had to completely gut it and start over to make it the way we wanted,” I said.
“Perhaps another time,” he said.
After that Kellyn was whisked away by Andreya: something about not seeing the bride before the wedding. I started to protest but the captain reminded me never to argue with a bride about her wedding.
Once we got to the bay I stopped them and said, “Captain, I have another favor to ask. We would like all seven of us to attend the wedding and reception, but that would leave the Nevermore with no one on watch. Would it be possible for you to send over some trusted officers to stand watch for us?”
Zalith turned, gestured at the new emblem on my staff and said, “The Dark Knights would be honored to come to your aid.”
“Then that is settled. We will send them over in the morning,” said the captain.
“Vydor, if you don’t mind, I would like to stay behind and take that tour you offered,” said Dr. Rannor.
“Of course, we can fly you back later if you wish, or you are welcome to stay in our guest quarters,” I said.
“Well, if it is no trouble to you, I would rather stay until the wedding,” he said.
I was surprised by his request, but it was no problem, so I granted it.
With that settled, the captain and Zalith boarded the shuttle and left. Zalith’s comment about the Dark Knights and their gift of the emblem had lifted from me a heavy burden I had carried since I had lost the squad. All this time I thought I had failed, yet had it not played out the way it had I would never have met the Black Adders and we would have lost the fight for that planet, which would have spelled the end of the Empire. The weight that lifted from me was amazing. I had felt stifled all this time by that guilt.
Then I realized that was the weakness exploited by the dark specter in the gate. Every time I let my anger and depression get the better of me, he grew stronger. When I had nothing but love and support around me, he was powerless. This was an amazing breakthrough. I had to share it with Kellyn, but she was in Andreya’s quarters and out of my reach. I asked Darnath to get a message to her, and after some argument he agreed to try, but made no promises of getting past Andreya.