Chapter 176
Part 25
“And we thank you, for both the suggestion and the service.”
“d to be of service.” Mark grinned. “We can have it done in a minute. After the work we did the other
day, we’re well practiced in casting the Gates.”
“I will provide you with the required information in fourteen minutes.” First Mauve informed him.
“Hmph.” Amirgath went as he tossed his head a bit. “I had hoped that this would be a great
aplishment that I would have a leading part in, but it will still be a great aplishment. The
fourteen minutes will allow me to alert Keran to what is about to ur, so that we can properly
wee our visitors to our neighborhood.”
With that, both gods vanished.
Mark’s family smiled smugly at each other, then returned to the work they were doing. After all, fourteen
minutes was too long to spend in anticipation when there was work to do.
True to her word, First Mauve returned in fourteen minutes, with Visinniria.
“I’m here to give you the position and speed information psionicly.” Visinniria exined. “The Triax want
to be sure you have it right and have it down, and so would prefer that you’re given the information
psionicly. Since psionicmunication between their gods and our mortals is still a problem, I’ll be
giving it to you and monitoring what you’re doing for them, and facilitatingmunications.”
She did so, and Mark’s family Linked, considered and mentally rehearsed what they were about to do
for a moment, and acted.
Val, Talia, and Alilia Translocated to where they’d collected power from the sun at sixteen times normal
intensity, and cast vast collection fields. Fire, Karz, Povon, and Kragorram went to the void above
Keran where the Triax fleet would emerge, to anchor the exit portal. Six and Mark Translocated out
into the void farther than any mortal of Keran had ever been, beyond the orbits of the inner worlds, in
the path of the iing fleet and moving toward the sun. Though still distant, the vessels of the Triax
fleet already looked huge and impressive.
Working together, they all cast the Gate with portals three hundred and twenty kilometers wide, just to
bepletely safe. They let Visinniria know where it was and where its edges were.
“One moment.” Visinniria said as she appeared beside Six and Mark in the void. “The Triax are
confirming the orientation of the Gate by sighting the stars that are visible through it. It’s an impressive
bit of surveying, actually.”
A momentter she reported; “All right, everything looks good. Herees the small test craft.”
A gray sphere about a meter wide approached the center of the Gate and passed through. Mark and
Six had cast the Gate beside and in front of them as they flew toward Keran and let the fleet catch up
with them, so they could watch the fleet going through. As soon as the little craft was through they
could see it ze with increased reflected sunlight.
On Amirgath’s suggestion, the exit Portal had been located in The Triax’s desired orbit in a ce where
it was in direct sunlight, while above a part of the world that was in the darkness of a cloudless night, so
that Keran’s new and temporary moons would be easily visible to those on the ground below.
Fire reported the arrival of the test craft above Keran, then The Triax reported through Visinniria that
the test passage had beenpletely sessful, and that they were proceeding with the passage of
the fleet.
As it approached Six, Mark, and Visinniria, the fleet’s great rtive speed became apparent, then
suddenly all sixteen mighty vessels were through in far less than a second.
“All right, they report that everything is good.” Visinniria said with a big smile. “You can end the Gate.”
“We might as well go through it first!” Sixughed, and then he and Mark became the first Kerani to
use a Gate in the void.
They emerged near Fire, Karz, Povon, and Kragorram, and were joined an instantter by Val, Talia,
and Alilia, then they all had to elerate hard for a minute to catch up with the quickly-receding fleet.
By the time they had caught up there were already thousands of Kerani in the void about the
worldlets, many holding or casting great glowing banners that read; ‘Keran wees The Triax!’
“That was well done.” Visinniria told them with great sincerity. “That was very, very well done, and we
all thank you.”
Despite all the Shielding and Void-Protections they were casting about themselves, she had no trouble
giving each of them a divinely wonderful warm hug as easily as if they were all standing naked in air.
Thousands of small craft emerged from the great Triax vessels and flew gaily but carefully among the
Kerani, along with hundreds of Triax gods.
Many of the elite who knew Mark’s family appeared nearby, including First Mauve, some gods of
Keran and other leaders of The Assembly. All the rest kept their distance with an almost elven
decorum, though many waved and smiled when they were close enough to be seen doing so.
Over an hour they floated there and watched the first celebration ever conducted in the void. The
and conversation, feasts were served, billions danced and partied in clusters in a huge space around
the fleet over three hundred kilometers wide.
Finally Falgaroth and Somonik appeared quite close, a smiling human woman wearing the glowing red
jewel of a professional Revealer appeared in front of them, and First Burgundy approached with a clear
twelve meter sphere full of liquid and tworge mortal Triax, an aquamarine and a very light blue.
“Those in the sphere here are the two most senior mortal Triax.” First Burgundy stated. “We would like
to present you with gifts.”
Visinniria began handing them two items each starting with Fire, who was closest at the moment, again
unaffected by their protective spells.
The little alien god continued speaking as she did so. “We, the gods and mortals of The Triax and of
Keran, present each of you with the first Orders of Merit awarded by The Keran-Triax Alliance, and
they are Orders of Merit for Brilliance. Both of our peoples are very much safer and stronger because
of your work today, and we all thank you.
“The ques are made by Keran, the medallions are made by The Triax. There is an energy field in
the medallions that The Triax can read, and they read the same as the ques. More than thirty billion
individuals from two worlds honor you, thank you, and celebrate you for your achievement.”
“We were honored beyond measure by the trust that all of your people ced in us.” Mark told him with
a broad smile. “And to be fair, each of the sorcerers of The People of Morning who crafted the Gate
spell deserve one of these too.”
“You’re right, and we’ll see that it is done.” Somonik told them.
“So, I imagine that the joint Triax-Keran training exercises will be proceeding soon?” Mark asked.
“Yes.” First Burgundy told him.
“And am I right in assuming that The Triax have also been conducting simr exercises on their own,
while waiting for their transfer here?”
“Always. Training is the key to safety and sessful warfare.”
“Good.” Mark nodded. “We can exchange recordings of our recent exercises to facilitate the nning of
our deployment.”
“That has been nned.” the Triax god agreed. “I look forward to joining all of you in the next exercise
for gods and other highly powerful individuals. It shall be held in five days and six hours, by Keran
reckoning of time.”
“In two days and eighteen hours, there will be an exercise for Kerani mortals who are Strike Wizards,
havebat scores greater than five thousand, or who can fight remotely with Simcrums and other
methods.” Somonik informed them.
“We’ll be there, at both of those.” Mark assured them.
“Well, now I want to work on getting ready for those!” Six said as he eagerly rubbed his hands together
and smiled nastily. “Can we get recordings of the gods’ previous exercises?”
“Certainly.” First Mauve told them as she appeared at conversational distance. “I will give them to you
myself, as I did when Ist visited your beach.”
“Good. We can record that into a Revealing for further study.” Six nodded. “Do you have any advice for
now?”
“Yes. Bear in mind that the exercises of the gods assume that among the demons there will be
thousands of DemonLords, and that they are as powerful as the worst we’ve encountered. Some ofOriginal content from N?velDrama.Org.
these are so powerful that they can eat a god, consuming the essence of the godpletely and
enclosing it, if the god is weak enough.”